All art is at once surface and symbol

I'm not surprised about Japan's xenophobia. :/ Which reminds me of an interesting tumblr post; all the characters in Japanese Anime and the like look white, but Japan views them as Japanese. If they wanted to depict someone American, they usually do it by giving the character a bigger nose or something. I'm grateful for customization, mainly because they allow you to be someone often neglected in games. :o