Miriam is bustier than in the original Kickstarter

Hey All, been meaning to create an account here for some time (I am a backer, after all,) but this just gives me an excuse so here I am. Man, do I have a lot to say on this topic. I'm a HUGE Castlevania fan and was delighted to help fund Igarashi's latest project, Bloodstained. However, there's a few things to keep in mind about the gaming market and the shift that has been happening as of late when it comes to sexuality, gender, and the gaming industry.

What we've been seeing is an increase in awareness to the hobby, and therefore, more people of all different shapes, sizes, races, religion and genders are checking out video games. It used to be a boys club (for the most part,) but now various surveys put the female gender closer than ever to the male-dominated market of video games. The rule of thumb was previously that most gamers are white, young, heterosexual males but that's changing.

Sadly, what we're also seeing is a call for diversity to games, one which European and North American game developers have been embracing. There's also been a huge uprising of the female and transgendered genders wanting characters that they can claim as their own and identify with. Some want to change existing established characters into something they're not (i.e. the "movement" which claims Samus Aran is transgendered. She's not, for the record.) Castlevania has, for the most part, always been developed by a Japanese subsidiary of Konami in some way, shape or form. They are a Japanese company with Japanese developers. They also tend to enjoy making more sexualized characters in Japan, something that doesn't translate well to the United States, specifically, due to Puritanical views. What we're seeing is a twisted return of the 90s censorship in video games only now, the ratings system is already established. Things quieted down quite a bit after this happened, but now instead of the conservative bible-belt brigade leading the cause, we have a more liberal tinged group; a small minority of people who want flat chested, obese women parading around in video games. In other words, they want to identify more with their avatar. Well, a few things:

1. This is fantasy. It's a video game. Characters should be able to be whatever the developers want them to be. They are the artists. For the people complaining that her breasts are too large, create your own video game with your own small breasted heroine.

2. I don't see too many men around complaining that Cosmo isn't written for them. This is a product created for fans of Igavania video games. And since Castlevania has always dabbled in the realm of a Japanese take on Horror and B-Movies, it's acceptable for a female character to have curves. Ignoring Castlevania Judgment, plenty of strong female characters have been sexy AND strong in the series.

3. The art for the concept of Miriam so far has been completely up and down regarding Miriam's breast size so until we get closer to the final game, people need to stop freaking out about whether her breasts are too big. It's pretty clear here that her dress is moved down a bit from her breasts exposing more flesh and that the size doesn't seem to generally be affected. For those who complain, take a look at past art for the character so far (and no, I don't mean fan-art.)

4. Breasts come in all shapes and sizes. As do women. By complaining about breasts being too big or too small, you're not only showing that you can't handle the female image, but you're showing others that it's okay to body shame women. Is it envy or jealousy or hatred? Whatever it is, it's not cool.

5. She's wearing an outfit that is DESIGNED to increase the visual size and shape of breasts and people are complaining about the size and shape of breasts? (This is not an invitation to complain about the outfit.)

6. Priorities, people.

I hope the devs read my post and know that the majority of their backers are people who are actually okay with Miriam's outfit and breast size and that they are supporting the game because they are excited to play another Igavania game and that the more negative attention that is drawn to the outfit the more comments they will get. Let the developers create and please stop trying to change the game's character to what you like your women to look like. I really didn't like the character design originally but I was excited because of the game concepts and the fact that this might be our last chance to play a Castlevania-style game made by many of the people that worked on some of the classics in the franchise. Please don't sour it with this back and forth nonsense about breast size.