Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27441478-20170412045049/@comment-27441478-20170413130701

Mystic Monkey wrote: They should of treated her as a japanese idol.

It’s widely known in Japan that idol singers are often contractually prohibited from engaging in romantic relationships. The reasoning goes that if word gets out that an idol singer has a boyfriend, her fans will feel betrayed that she isn’t solely devoted to her role as a musician and entertainer, that or it ruins the fans romantic ideals for them.

It's sort of true with Mina. When she started dating what looks like her punk brother, her popularity dipped.

In fact now that I think about it, Mina Mongoose is a lot like a Japanese idol. Yes she is dating her manager, but only a select few outside the Forget Me Knots know of this. I can't recall if it was common knowledge to her fans if she was dating her manager. But with the Manager dating the Idol means he could have more control over Mina's lovelife and business. lol WRONG!

However, you would be CORRECT if only Mina was a character constructed by Sega Japan. Her character was written and introduced by Bollers, an American. It would be different if only she was like Sonic, Tails, Knuckles etc. whom had Japanese creators rather than American/Europeans, so in this case, her character may be developed based off of Western pop stars, not Eastern, so it might not apply.

HOWEVER, it appears even on Mobius, disregarding species, Mobians DO seem to have ethnic cultures similar to us Humans in the real world eg. Dragon Kingdom. Evan Stanley's OC in the comic appears to be "ethnically equivalant of Indian".

In Mina's early debut, Bollers may have hinted she herself may also have some form of cultural ethnicity, a big clue being her alternate dragon-decorated dress and nothing much else. But then again, it might reference most likely Chinese/Vietnamese rather than Japanese, so her being a K/JPOP Star and having to reflect that value might not be so likely. hmmmm...