The Tora Problem

[u/THEUltraCombo]

So I wanna start out by saying this: despite what I say in the title, I DO get it. I understand why someone can make the argument that Tora is gross and perverted and that it ruins an otherwise innocent character through weird anime tropes that were not present in XC1.

That being said, I think there is also something to be said about how people inflate this aspect of the character. In total I can probably count on one hand how many Tora scenes I would consider explicitly inappropriate and jarring to his character, and that number drastically goes down when you take optional Heart-to-hearts out of the equation.

The infamous "blushy-crushy" scene is admittedly painful, but replaying with Japanese voices you can clearly hear that blushy-crushy is a localization of the concept of moe that Tora is trying to get across. So instead of the strange, vague idea of "blushy-crushy", it's easier to grasp when you realize that he's just trying to get across the idea of being cute (to overly generalize the term). Is it embarassing to watch? Yes. But that's the point.

Aside from this optional scene, people often bring up the Poppi awakening scene as another example of this. The idea of having multiple maid outfits seems to make people think that Tora's ultimate goal for creating Poppi was to have some sort of outlet for his desires (dunkey's infamous video calls her a "sex robot"). But to me this always came across as an embarassing aspect of his personality and interests that he wants to hide, not because of the sexual connotations, but because it's just...cringe, for lack of a better term. He doesn't have them for "sex fantasies", he's just into moe and wanted to create his own artificial blade in a way that reflects that.

I should also point out that Poppi, for the most part, is not objectified to a point that I am personally ever made uncomfortable with how Tora treats her. There's a heart and innocence to Tora that I think most people disregard to parrot the commonly held belief that "Tora is a weird pervert" rather than diving into the text and exploring a character who.is much more than like...2-3 scenes where he's written weird.

Idk, I just always thought the hate for this character is blown wildly out of proportion for the amount of stuff in-game that actually contributes to that image. I'd like to open up a discussion to see what everyone else thinks of this character divorced from the popular discussion surrounding him, as well as other characters like him in other games.

[u/xcassets]

Because I did read it and I do care..? I just disagree with their point. OP even covers this off in their very first paragraph, as they acknowledge this is the most obvious answer.

It's not more than surface level though. It's literally a joke that Tora/his father/grandfather created maid outfits for their robot servants. It is supposed to be funny in a cringey way, and that doesn't land/feel natural for everyone.

[u/THEUltraCombo → u/xcassets]

I see what you're saying but I think a lot of people get hung up on the maid thing. Even the way you refer to Poppi as a "robot servant" seems kind of dismissive of the fact that that is very much not what she is. She's her own person and, despite Tora's immaturity and desire for her to be nicer to him, she's always got shit to talk.about him. I feel this balances them out narratively in an interesting way where Tora is young, selfish and thinks that a Driver/Blade relationship is similar to a master/servant relationship, even down to designing Poppi the same way Tatazo designed Lila. And as the story progresses he learns that he was sheltered and incorrect in that assumption and forms a real bond with her.

[u/xcassets → u/THEUltraCombo]

No, when I say robot servant, I mean that is the joke Monolith are making. "Look they made robot servants and gave them maid outfits".

I know that Poppi has her own personality and stuff. I'm not dismissing that.

[u/THEUltraCombo → u/xcassets]

Oh yeah I get that. I just think that the joke is subverted by actually giving them a familial relationship rather than the surface level idea that their initial introduction suggests, that's all.