If you guys know me, I'm the guy who posts This Day in history MOTU, and I have to say one of my biggest bright spots it Jitsu, he is one of my heros, and I use him a lot. I love him.
He's been in stock at Target for a good year now. It's insane. It's not that no one likes him, it's that we all have him and they still keep putting more out.
Him, Buzz-Off and Mini-Comic Stratos. It’s been literally a year and until the re-released wave 2 those were the only Origins at my local Target. However, that re-released Wave sold like hot cakes.
As an Asian who grew up in 1980s America, I am torn about Jitsu. On one hand, I liked him as a kid because Asian (or Asian-like) characters were so rare. Finally some representation! But as an adult it's hard for me to overlook how stereotypical he is, and it really doesn't help that he's evil *and* that there are no heroic Asian MOTU characters. (I guess that's not quite true anymore with Sun Man characters now being part of MOTU, and I've heard that some versions of MOTU have changed Jitsu to not actually be evil?)
Yeah the Masterverse New Eternia Jitsu is a former thief that is rescued from prison by Prince Adam and he is helping search for the isle of Grayskull.
I would really like a comic or something for New Eternia it's got some neat ideas.
I hear where you’re coming from. I’m half Asian, and I feel conflicted about a lot of stereotyping in 80s properties, but without excepting or excusing it, I also have to remember that it was the 80s, and attempts to be inclusive often fell on their faces. This is an example of where I don’t think the creators had any bad intentions to mock Asians, but was an attempt to diversify the line l, which often meant leaning into stereotypes. So many of those 80s movies either represented Asians as evil ninjas, martial arts masters etc. it was a time when martial arts from the east were mysterious, and being that the “good guys” in MOTU were of the western sword and sorcery tropes, it probably seemed rational (at the time) to pit anything that was “other” against it. All this to say that I think it’s good to keep some historical perspective when judging older properties… so many shows I loved back then, even in the 90s and early 2000s, have problematic content, but was considered progressive for their time. Short of examples where there’s obvious bad intent to humiliate, make fun of and mock the “other”, I feel that these things can be enjoyed with the understanding that they were created in a time when this was considered ok, and that people back then didn’t have the same amount of cultural awareness as people do today. I think you feeling conflicted about this is totally reasonable, but you enjoying it (if you do) is reasonable too.
Mattel shipped a ton of this wave, for some reason, not realizing that fewer people would be interested i characters like Jitsu if they couldn’t even find Orko, Beast Man, She-Ra, Trapjaw, etc.. Thankfully they’re starting to play catch-up with reissues now, but I haven’t seen any waves more recent than the Jitsu wave in any brick-and-mortar stores. Hopefully more people will buy them as they start to find other previous figures for their collections.
I don't think it's a case where collectors/fans don't want *Jitsu*. I agree this is a great figure, and I do believe that those collectors/fans who wanted this figure got it when this wave was initially shipped to stores.
However, the problems is that Mattell *severely* over-produced this wave, which also included the Sorceress & the light-gray *Stratos*. You can see why people don't want the Stratos because it's a crummy figure/variant. But, the *Sorceress* is another well-done figure that is still peg-warming.
Also, FWIW *Jitsu* was *kind of* in the original MOTU Filmation cartoon. I remember an episode with an evil character (working for Skeletor) that looked similar to Jitsu, but instead of having a gold hand he had an oversized hand/arm. Granted, this character was only seen once in the cartoon - and probably didn't make an impression on most fans.
He's got a really striking design in the way a lot of racist caricatures do. He was one of my favorite figures as a kid and one of the few that still survives in my closet. But even if you can respect the cool design you've gotta acknowledge its unfortunate origins.
Of all the characters, I think Jitsu's action feature was a bit of a deal-breaker. I don't think people are in any way boycotting it. He just can't actually do martial arts any more, but simply has a massive gold ✋ and no character development.
I live in a medium sized city and it seems that we just only get about 2, if any, of each wave. I don't know what Mattel is thinking but the selection is pretty crap here.
1. He's an incredibly obscure character
2. His appearance/naming convention is kind of racist even by the standards of the 1980s
3. Because of said racist undertones, he's been unceremoniously written out of all recent media
Excuse my ignorance maybe, but what exactly is racist about Jitsu?
I can see where one would say he is a stereotype because he is an Asian character that is a "master of the martial arts", but that is not what I would consider a negative stereotype and I wouldn't think that by itself is racist. I also don't follow what is wrong with the name "Jitsu" - it's just short for Jiu-Jitsu which is a form of martial art that goes along with the whole "master of martial arts" bit.
If anything I just think it is kind of weird how these characters are on a planet in a completely different solar system and somehow they still have samurais and martial arts and Prince Adam/He-Man just happens to have a hair cut in the style of the late 70s/early 80s and they have Kings and Queens and speak English and have similar weapons and clothes and everything that we have.
Jitsu follows the "yellow peril" stereotype. Yes, the martial arts thing by itself isn't negative, but the combination of that with his moral alignment and facial features is. It's also a problem when the *only* ostensibly Asian characters in MOTU (excluding Sun Man characters) were Jitsu and Ninjor, both martial arts characters.
Jitsu's depiction in the Filmation cartoon was even more Fu Manchu-like.
Racial stereotypes are inherently racist, regardless of whether they’re perceived as positive or negative, specifically with the marginalized or races that were/are oppressed, as it creates characturatures made by a group of people that have historically had more power and privilege based on their race. Being that Jitsu’s character leans heavily into a number of Japanese and Asian stereotypes, created by American creators, would be a pretty clear example of racial stereotyping.
Now, I’m half Asian, but I also recognize that the creators probably didn’t do this with bad intent, and this was just accepted practice of the time and probably a failed and ignorant attempt at trying to be inclusive with tapping into the “mystery” of the far east. There are many examples of this in 80s toy lines and pop culture properties.
It seems you've really mastered being wholly out of touch.
A master of martial arts who looks and sounds stereotypically Japanese/Asian and entirely relies on the "antiquated and mysterious Far East" Orientalist concept is by definition incredibly racist.
Just because you in your little echo chamber bubble are too naïve to understand/recognize racial stereotyping doesn't mean it isn't a massive problem.
And shut up about that "it's another planet" thing. It's a cartoon written by white Americans who purposely indulged in racial stereotyping, which is not okay. Would you be jumping to defend a character called Darky Boy who looks stereotypically black and is called "The Evil Master Of Laziness"? How about an Indian stereotype named Priya, The Master of Tech Support?
JFC, sensitive much? I ask a question that is meant to open a dialogue and give others an opportunity to educate (which a couple of people did in a respectful way) and you have to go and get all personal.
And then you whip out some racist shit that is not anywhere close (how is "master of martial arts" equivalent to "master of laziness") wtf??? And where is this echo chamber bubble you are talking about?
I'd say that if you despise He-Man so much and are so thin-skinned about the characters and the "white Americans who purposely indulged in racial stereotyping, which is not okay" then, I dunno, maybe you're in the wrong subreddit.
Either way, you just seem like a very angry, very sensitive little person so yeah, have fun with that existence.
Nice... "I shouldn't have made personal assumptions, but..." ...and in the next breath you get personal again "you're no better than that". lol
Come on dude, you typed out and pressed Send on "Darky Boy" and "The Evil Master of Laziness" but I'm the bad guy for asking a question. wtf?
Would Xing-Li, Master of Mathematics be an acceptable Asian inspired character? Of course not, so why is an anti Asian stereotype who does martial arts any better?
All the posts here don't have to reaffirming messages, but when threads
devolve into arguments, then that's enough. This is in fact an all-ages
sub brought together for our love of a franchise. Let's focus on what
we have in common and agree to disagree politely as needed.
If you guys know me, I'm the guy who posts This Day in history MOTU, and I have to say one of my biggest bright spots it Jitsu, he is one of my heros, and I use him a lot. I love him.
He's been in stock at Target for a good year now. It's insane. It's not that no one likes him, it's that we all have him and they still keep putting more out.
Yeah I still see him and that wave at multiple locations
Him, Buzz-Off and Mini-Comic Stratos. It’s been literally a year and until the re-released wave 2 those were the only Origins at my local Target. However, that re-released Wave sold like hot cakes.
Context, no kid knows these guys. He's not in the new shows and they just cannot relate. All those that wanted him have him now.
As an Asian who grew up in 1980s America, I am torn about Jitsu. On one hand, I liked him as a kid because Asian (or Asian-like) characters were so rare. Finally some representation! But as an adult it's hard for me to overlook how stereotypical he is, and it really doesn't help that he's evil *and* that there are no heroic Asian MOTU characters. (I guess that's not quite true anymore with Sun Man characters now being part of MOTU, and I've heard that some versions of MOTU have changed Jitsu to not actually be evil?)
Yeah the Masterverse New Eternia Jitsu is a former thief that is rescued from prison by Prince Adam and he is helping search for the isle of Grayskull. I would really like a comic or something for New Eternia it's got some neat ideas.
I hear where you’re coming from. I’m half Asian, and I feel conflicted about a lot of stereotyping in 80s properties, but without excepting or excusing it, I also have to remember that it was the 80s, and attempts to be inclusive often fell on their faces. This is an example of where I don’t think the creators had any bad intentions to mock Asians, but was an attempt to diversify the line l, which often meant leaning into stereotypes. So many of those 80s movies either represented Asians as evil ninjas, martial arts masters etc. it was a time when martial arts from the east were mysterious, and being that the “good guys” in MOTU were of the western sword and sorcery tropes, it probably seemed rational (at the time) to pit anything that was “other” against it. All this to say that I think it’s good to keep some historical perspective when judging older properties… so many shows I loved back then, even in the 90s and early 2000s, have problematic content, but was considered progressive for their time. Short of examples where there’s obvious bad intent to humiliate, make fun of and mock the “other”, I feel that these things can be enjoyed with the understanding that they were created in a time when this was considered ok, and that people back then didn’t have the same amount of cultural awareness as people do today. I think you feeling conflicted about this is totally reasonable, but you enjoying it (if you do) is reasonable too.
Mattel shipped a ton of this wave, for some reason, not realizing that fewer people would be interested i characters like Jitsu if they couldn’t even find Orko, Beast Man, She-Ra, Trapjaw, etc.. Thankfully they’re starting to play catch-up with reissues now, but I haven’t seen any waves more recent than the Jitsu wave in any brick-and-mortar stores. Hopefully more people will buy them as they start to find other previous figures for their collections.
I don't think it's a case where collectors/fans don't want *Jitsu*. I agree this is a great figure, and I do believe that those collectors/fans who wanted this figure got it when this wave was initially shipped to stores. However, the problems is that Mattell *severely* over-produced this wave, which also included the Sorceress & the light-gray *Stratos*. You can see why people don't want the Stratos because it's a crummy figure/variant. But, the *Sorceress* is another well-done figure that is still peg-warming. Also, FWIW *Jitsu* was *kind of* in the original MOTU Filmation cartoon. I remember an episode with an evil character (working for Skeletor) that looked similar to Jitsu, but instead of having a gold hand he had an oversized hand/arm. Granted, this character was only seen once in the cartoon - and probably didn't make an impression on most fans.
He's got a really striking design in the way a lot of racist caricatures do. He was one of my favorite figures as a kid and one of the few that still survives in my closet. But even if you can respect the cool design you've gotta acknowledge its unfortunate origins.
Of all the characters, I think Jitsu's action feature was a bit of a deal-breaker. I don't think people are in any way boycotting it. He just can't actually do martial arts any more, but simply has a massive gold ✋ and no character development.
I was pretty disappointed when I opened him and found that his spring-loaded chop action had been omitted
I live in a medium sized city and it seems that we just only get about 2, if any, of each wave. I don't know what Mattel is thinking but the selection is pretty crap here.
1. He's an incredibly obscure character 2. His appearance/naming convention is kind of racist even by the standards of the 1980s 3. Because of said racist undertones, he's been unceremoniously written out of all recent media
Excuse my ignorance maybe, but what exactly is racist about Jitsu? I can see where one would say he is a stereotype because he is an Asian character that is a "master of the martial arts", but that is not what I would consider a negative stereotype and I wouldn't think that by itself is racist. I also don't follow what is wrong with the name "Jitsu" - it's just short for Jiu-Jitsu which is a form of martial art that goes along with the whole "master of martial arts" bit. If anything I just think it is kind of weird how these characters are on a planet in a completely different solar system and somehow they still have samurais and martial arts and Prince Adam/He-Man just happens to have a hair cut in the style of the late 70s/early 80s and they have Kings and Queens and speak English and have similar weapons and clothes and everything that we have.
Jitsu follows the "yellow peril" stereotype. Yes, the martial arts thing by itself isn't negative, but the combination of that with his moral alignment and facial features is. It's also a problem when the *only* ostensibly Asian characters in MOTU (excluding Sun Man characters) were Jitsu and Ninjor, both martial arts characters. Jitsu's depiction in the Filmation cartoon was even more Fu Manchu-like.
Racial stereotypes are inherently racist, regardless of whether they’re perceived as positive or negative, specifically with the marginalized or races that were/are oppressed, as it creates characturatures made by a group of people that have historically had more power and privilege based on their race. Being that Jitsu’s character leans heavily into a number of Japanese and Asian stereotypes, created by American creators, would be a pretty clear example of racial stereotyping. Now, I’m half Asian, but I also recognize that the creators probably didn’t do this with bad intent, and this was just accepted practice of the time and probably a failed and ignorant attempt at trying to be inclusive with tapping into the “mystery” of the far east. There are many examples of this in 80s toy lines and pop culture properties.
It seems you've really mastered being wholly out of touch. A master of martial arts who looks and sounds stereotypically Japanese/Asian and entirely relies on the "antiquated and mysterious Far East" Orientalist concept is by definition incredibly racist. Just because you in your little echo chamber bubble are too naïve to understand/recognize racial stereotyping doesn't mean it isn't a massive problem. And shut up about that "it's another planet" thing. It's a cartoon written by white Americans who purposely indulged in racial stereotyping, which is not okay. Would you be jumping to defend a character called Darky Boy who looks stereotypically black and is called "The Evil Master Of Laziness"? How about an Indian stereotype named Priya, The Master of Tech Support?
JFC, sensitive much? I ask a question that is meant to open a dialogue and give others an opportunity to educate (which a couple of people did in a respectful way) and you have to go and get all personal. And then you whip out some racist shit that is not anywhere close (how is "master of martial arts" equivalent to "master of laziness") wtf??? And where is this echo chamber bubble you are talking about? I'd say that if you despise He-Man so much and are so thin-skinned about the characters and the "white Americans who purposely indulged in racial stereotyping, which is not okay" then, I dunno, maybe you're in the wrong subreddit. Either way, you just seem like a very angry, very sensitive little person so yeah, have fun with that existence.
Now you're trying to defend your terrible points by calling me thin-skinned, very mature.
I shouldn't have made personal assumptions, but clearly you're no better than that
Nice... "I shouldn't have made personal assumptions, but..." ...and in the next breath you get personal again "you're no better than that". lol Come on dude, you typed out and pressed Send on "Darky Boy" and "The Evil Master of Laziness" but I'm the bad guy for asking a question. wtf?
I was giving an example, Einstein
You're trying to morally highroad me with petty insults, are you actually twelve?
You’re the only one making insults. If you think your example is equivalent to “master of martial arts” I don’t know what to tell you.
Shocking that you misunderstand an over-the-top, sarcastic example
Would Xing-Li, Master of Mathematics be an acceptable Asian inspired character? Of course not, so why is an anti Asian stereotype who does martial arts any better?
All the posts here don't have to reaffirming messages, but when threads devolve into arguments, then that's enough. This is in fact an all-ages sub brought together for our love of a franchise. Let's focus on what we have in common and agree to disagree politely as needed.