I just left an argument in another forum. It's in regards to The Elder Scrolls series of games, some of you know Oblvion or Morrowind. It's a fantasy RPG series of games. You don't have to be familiar with the game to understand my question, I think. You see there's this race, called the Tsaesci, who live on a continent never seen in any game, but it is hinted at. Now this continent they live on, called Akavir, could be the TES equivalent of Asia. Now in the game Oblivion, you actually see these Tsaesci. They wear all Japanese-style armor, have Japanese-style weapons, and live in Japanese-style buildings. Essentially the Tsaesci are the in-game equivalent to the Japanese. In the game Oblivion, they appear human. However, in certain texts, they're supposed to be vampiric, man-eating, snake-like monsters. Recently, a dev confirmed that the humans encountered in the game are actually supposed to be snakemen. Now they say they will be more in future games, and they will be montrous vampire snakemen, who eat people.
So the question is this. If you, unfamiliar to the game, were to encounter this beings, who for all intents and purposes appear Japanese in their weapons, clothing and armor, and buildings, but physically appear as vampiric shakemen, how would you interperate that? I mean, they really are the in-game versions of the ancient Japanese. More specifically, how would you react if you were Japanese? Would you interperate it as offensive? Would you see this as an insult to the Japanese, hinting that the Japanese are snake-like monsters? Or do you think nobody would see that parallel, including the Japanese?