I am playing Genshin right, and I find some interesting comparisons with XIV in the narrative.
One if that both have an isolationist not!Japan in Inazuma and Doma. Both are clearly inspired by the Sakoku, so I don't think there is much there, just a coincidence probably.
What I find more interesting is how both have a female pirate captain in Beidou/Merlwyb. It seems a very eastern archetype, all the way back to Emeraldas. Like yeah there are some western examples but they are nothing compared to the eastern ones.
It's a really fascinating female archetype which I can't find the real life basis for. Female knights? Men want to die for their pretty female officer, and Jeanne made it real. Female merchants? male-female relationships as a bargain where the woman is on top, men love this.
But female pirate? I can't see where it's from. Just a more chaotic female knight? but it wouldn't explain why it seems to be missing in the west. Even in pirates of the caribbean the only female pirate officer was the chinese one, Ching.
