Daken Akihiro Appreciation 2020

[DAHX]

This worked well at the time, but it was because Laura was a direct contrast to everything Daken stood for in his solo series. He was a snake, shady, shifty and untrustworthy. He was all about himself. But when it came to Laura, we saw hints of a different side, (collision was epic) this wasn’t really explored properly and from a writing standpoint, It really Did nothing for his character arc

We saw that different side when he was working with Laura later too in Wolverines, then in All-New Wolverine. Maybe it’s still not fully explored, but there are more cases than Collision where Daken showed a more positive side of himself when he was around Laura and they’re canonically much closer to each other now then around Collision. And I disagree, probably this did the most for the character; since he hasn’t been used only as a pile of daddy issues who just an insufferable plot device for Logan*, but someone who might be capable of some growth (X-Men Blue, ANW), he gained some traction and interest and created new possibilities for him, which I think what makes it possible that he’s used as a regular character on a team again and not being a forgotten character.

*when he was a snake shaky character doing whatever he wanted (Dark Avengers, Madripoor, Los Angeles) that was awesome. But after Dark Reign and his solo series ended it became obvious that the writers didn’t know what to do with him, and he just became Logan’s punching bag and a disposable character who was destined to have one role only, to die over and over… I’m glad that’s over and that he has a new perspective now.

What I’m trying to say is if He becomes a good boyAnd some rule following ambassador for diversity then he’s relation with Laura will mean nothing, and as far as I’m concerned, that means the writers have done a complete 180 without any real justification and he’ll now be considered a different character.

-Why would Laura mean nothing to him? Like I said above they’re closer to each other than ever, she is probably the most important person in Daken’s life by current canon. And doing some good with/for Laura -and vice versa- is what cemented it, not their differences.
-He doesn’t necessarily have to become a rule following good boy or to have a complete 180 turn. He isn’t dumb, he can still work with others and be useful, just like most villains on Krakoa. And like others already said this: he can be good to his sister(and maybe to some others?), but he can still be an ******* in general.

And for those saying he was offensive, I feel like that was the point of Daken, he was meant to be ruthless scum. That’s who he was imo and that’s what made him interesting

true, that was the point of the character and that’s what made him interesting. Daniel Way even said in an interview that if people hate this character or if he creates strong feelings, then everything went according to the plans. What I meant by offensive wasn’t the character, but how Marvel handled bixesuality specifically at the time. But this is another topic. Probably today when representation is more important, this part will be handled a bit more carefully and differently.

[Rosebunse]

The issue with Daken's bisexuality was that he was basically the only openly bisexual character at the time. At the very least, he was one of the most prominent. His sexuality was heavily tied to his very, very unsavory character.

What people need to realize that is that for centuries, bisexual characters were usually evil and bad. Daken njst seemed like a continuation of that.

[DAHX]

What people need to realize that is that for centuries, bisexual characters were usually evil and bad. Daken njst seemed like a continuation of that.

That's exactly the problem and it needs to change. Bisexuality is not an evil, untrustworthy thing. It's time for some changes and better portrayal in general.

[Rosebunse]

That's exactly the problem and it needs to change. Bisexuality is not an evil, untrustworthy thing. It's time for some changes and better portrayal in general.

Yes, and things are getting better. We are getting better representation, but it took a long, long time.

[Mr. White]

Any one here a fan of Daken's new look in the upcoming X-Factor book?
Find the head redesign (beard and hair) a welcome change.
Not too fond of the bulking-up though. Hoping it's more the particular artist's rendition.

[DAHX]

It’s the same for me, I appreciate the changes, but the only thing I don’t like is the bulking up. It’s so Logan, and Daken is supposed to be the exact opposite of that… The rest is good. The artist of the costume design will do the interior art, so this is how it’s gonna be in the book too probably

[Anduinel]

I wonder if the extra bulk supposed to be a visual cue of Daken's enforcer role, since the rest of the team is rather slightly built overall. Lorna and Rachel are the heavy hitters in terms of sheer force of power, but it sounds like Daken is literally the muscle of the group.

[DAHX]

I think that's possible, I thought of it too

[Mr. White]

While I get the enforcer angle, still (in my book) doesn't warrant a size increase. Especially as Daken's fighting style has more finesse as opposed to Logan's more brutish approach.
Yeah didn't notice the artist was the same re. cover and interior. Guess it's a wait and see.
Will see how other artists work with it...

[DAHX]

I think they want to make him more feral and Wolverine-like, which I'm not particularly happy about...

[Rosebunse]

Again, my take on the bulking up is that we have a healthier character who is trying to make more positive choices. For many people, this means a change in appearance and at least trying to eat healthier.

As for his hair and more Loganish look, we do have art frok previous runs where they looked very similar, especially when Daken doesn't shave. This actually makes quite a bit of sense when you consider that for decades, Daken was trying very hard not to look like Logan at all.

His mohawk, his clothing, everything was sort of done to say that he isn't the Canadian beserker Logan is.

Him finally allowing himself to look like Logan is a big step, especially since Logan is alive and probably helped vouch for him to be on this very important team.

[DAHX]

Again, my take on the bulking up is that we have a healthier character who is trying to make more positive choices. For many people, this means a change in appearance and at least trying to eat healthier.

That’s your take, some might interpret it differently. I highly doubt that it’s the case, healthy eating can’t change your body type. And aside from his drug addiction in Los Angeles he seemed to eat healthily, at least it’s canon how much he enjoys good food, ‘it’s even worth killing for it’

As for his hair and more Loganish look, we do have art frok previous runs where they looked very similar, especially when Daken doesn't shave.

We’re going in circles, already discussed it on page 5:

yes, you said this before, but 98% of the time he was never drawn like Logan, that one occasion is not going to erase his established look and it was also a mistake...Erasing his Japanese look is a mistake. it's still canon that he isn't supposed to look like Logan at all because he took after his Japanese mother, so that past mistake shouldn't be an example or followed up. Back to X-Factor: having facial hair is one thing, why not? But you still don't turn suddenly so bulky... So some might be bothered by it. Fortunately he still looks Japanese here unlike that past occasion.
(Not shaving also shouldn't make him look like Logan by the way, he isn't supposed to be able to grow facial hair like a Caucasian man because of Asian genetics…)

It will never be right or a good example that one professional artist forgot how to draw a Japanese person and conveniently turned him into a Logan copy… (Wolverines series) And I don’t think it’s all right to use this one example to justify later cases where he might be drawn less Japanese only for the sake of making him look like Logan. (not saying this is happening in X-Factor, he still seems to have Japanese features, I mean it in general). It’s like saying Roberto not being black in New Mutants movie is ok because there are cases in comics where he was already whitewashed, saying the movie just followed that…
You might don’t mind a loganized Daken, but some might do.

His mohawk, his clothing, everything was sort of done to say that he isn't the Canadian beserker Logan is.

Him finally allowing himself to look like Logan is a big step, especially since Logan is alive and probably helped vouch for him to be on this very important team.

Now this might be something, I was thinking something like this after the new design was released. This Daken seems like a very different person than he used to be, there’s probably (hopefully) a reason for his change. He might see that he isn’t completely different from his father as he used to think and now he’s accepting that side of himself and his father too. This could be a good storyline, a way of development. but if his change is just for making him a berserker and make him look like it(and Logan) just because he’s a wolverine character, then I strongly disapprove… One of the best things about Logan, Laura and Daken is that they're still very different characters.

[Rosebunse]

I think part of the reason we don't always see a very Asian looking Daken is that Asian characters can be hard to draw well. They can look very offensive if you do it wrong. Add into that Daken is only half Japanese.

Honestly, Daken must be a pain to draw. Sure, his basic costume was just pants, boots, and shirtless, but then you add in that tattoo, that he needs to look Asian but not too Asian, he sort of needs to look like Wolverine, he needs to look handsome but evil-

This is why a lot of artists just give up and do their own thing with him.

[DAHX]

I think part of the reason we don't always see a very Asian looking Daken is that Asian characters can be hard to draw well. They can look very offensive if you do it wrong. Add into that Daken is only half Japanese.

It’s as hard as drawing Caucasian men... But even if it was harder, that can’t be an excuse for not drawing a Japanese character Japanese? That’s the job of an artist. And Asian artists exist too, I’m sure they don’t draw only white characters because Asian characters are hard...
- Daken is half Japanese, but he is Asian-passing. Logan himself said he looks like his mother, so he should not look white(or like Logan). Saying that he’s half white so it’s ok if he doesn’t look Asian just sounds like another excuse for whitewashing.

he sort of needs to look like Wolverine

No, he doesn’t. the whole point of his original character design is that he doesn’t look like Logan with any of his features, he looks actually the exact opposite of him. The only thing that Daken has from Logan is his blue eyes, which doesn’t make any sense, but hey, let’s have something from Logan too.

---
A lot of artist gave up and didn’t bother, but I think that was just pure laziness. it’s always been an issue with Daken, he was almost never been drawn like an Asian character. And most of the time it’s been an issue with other Asian characters too in general. For Daken it can be said that ‘he’s half white anyway’, but I think it’s just to justify that laziness. We don’t know yet what it will be like in X-factor, but this is why taking away one of his previously Japanese features and making him bulky bothering me a little. But aside from the bulkiness, he can still be portrayed as an Asian character, so I’ll wait for the book to really form an opinion about it.

[pkingdom]

Daken really hasn't had an outfit or costume that's caught on. The shirtless look is his most iconic, funny enough.

most of his costumes haven't been that interesting. Remember when he got a French fashion designer to make him a new one in-story, only for Johnny Blaze to torch it the next issue? He even pouted over it.