GameSided
Fansided

MGS5: The Phantom Pain Offers A Controversial Figurine

By Daniel George

facebooktwitterreddit

It wouldn’t be a Metal Gear Solid story involving a Hideo Kojima-created female character (outside of The Boss) without a bit of controversy, and it’s easy to see where it lies today. Early this morning (or tonight, over in Japan), Hideo Kojima tweeted from his English Twitter account the current status of their Quiet figurine as part of the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain line of merchandise. In the tweet, it is revealed that supervisor Yoji says the soft materials of the figurine allow it “to be pushed & lifted.”

Of course, as with everything on the internet, there are two main sides to the argument over the necessity of having a figurine like this to promote The Phantom Pain. Let’s start with the obvious; it’s pretty damn creepy. It’s an action figure that has soft, squishy boobs that probably feel like sand to its owners. It’s a scantily clad fictional character based off the likeness of a real person, although its likeness was modeled by Stefanie Joosten herself. To me, it doesn’t pass the ultra-scientific “Are you comfortable showing this off in your home to most people, including family?” test. I mean, c’mon!

That said, passing “quiet” judgment on those who you would see buying something like this is where this controversy should end. It’s hard to grasp it on social media, where most people who speak the same language maintain at least basic tenets of similar culture, but the freedom of expression and sexuality is a lot more nuanced in Japan. Somebody buying a Quiet figurine to support their fandom of Metal Gear and all things Phantom Pain may not be as socially unacceptable in the country of origin as it would in certain countries around North America and Europe.

More from News

Furthermore, let me remind you that this is Play Arts Kai’s interpretation of the Quiet character. They likely have as much information about the character as we’ve seen in brief mission videos as a sidekick, in promotional photos and nothing more. Once the game comes out and we finally know what Hideo Kojima means in his defense of the character’s choice for physical representation within The Phantom Pain’s story, then is the time to pass judgment on Kojima’s design choice for the character. For now, you can look to lodge your complaints with how Play Arts Kai developed the Quiet figurine, which is markedly more sexualized than some of their previous sensational efforts.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is coming to the PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 1st, with the PC version to follow afterward on September 15th.

More from GameSided

Looking to write about video games? Join us at GameSided! Contact me to apply or if you have any inquiries/tips: daniel.george@fansided.com.

Home/News