Questioning what American sensibilities a Japanese toy could possibly represent.

I just read a paper about Optimus Prime and a bit of it kind of grabbed me. In 2013, Erin Brady appeared in a costume inspired by Optimus Prime for the Miss USA pageant. The media mocked her, asking what American sensibilities a "Japanese toy" could possibly represent. I have to wonder if anyone has ever shamed these idiots by pointing out that while Optimus Prime and the Transformers were based on Japanese toys, everything about the characters beyond their DNA (or CNA in this case) was invented by American writers. Optimus Prime is not a Japanese character, the toy he was based on merely originated there.

Which sounds pretty goddamn American to me.