Editing SP Current Events (section)

===In the Asian Pacific===

It seems counter-intuitive. Most of the peoples of the Asian Pacific region tend to be homogeneous, socially stratified and conservative. It was generally thought that the Arches wouldn't see much use, even if they weren't quarantined.

Well, they weren't. The government of Japan kept a close eye on them, and made sure that no one passed through who was on a terrorist watch list or the like, but otherwise left them alone.

And in Japan especially, the Arches have been astoundingly popular. Granted, most of the popularity seems more the IDEA of passing through the Arches - there's an entire subculture of Arch Otaku that's sprung up since - but the various Arches still see as many as 1 or even 2 people passing through every week.

What's surprising to most observers is that it's often difficult to tell what they wanted changed. Oh, they change - there are a LOT of blue-eyed blondes running around in Tokyo now - but whether those were the changes they wanted, or the side effects, it's hard to tell.

In other areas of the Asian Pacific, it's even more obvious and the Arches are even more popular. They're usually being called the 'New Gods'. Some of them act the parts, for good or ill.