Genshin Impact's CNY Headliner Character Model Goes Viral for All the Wrong Reasons — Players Say a 9.9 Yuan Taobao Stocking Has More Effort

The stocking design on Genshin Impact's big Spring Festival character got dissected by players so hard that even the metaphorical underwear was laid bare — except, ironically, there was nothing on the underwear to begin with.

An NGA forum user went viral for roasting Cloud Retainer's (留云) 3D model, pointing out that the legging/stocking area is completely devoid of any texture, pattern, or detail — just a flat, featureless gray model slapped on like plain thermal long johns (秋裤). The post included a damning side-by-side comparison: on the left, a random Taobao search result for cheap black stockings with intricate lace detailing; on the right, miHoYo's 'carefully crafted' character stockings — a pitch-black void smoother than a baby's bottom.

The post also delivered a final blow: this character, draped head-to-toe in black, is supposedly based on a white crane. The irony was not lost on the community — 'miHoYo's art team can't even be bothered to pretend they're trying anymore,' the OP concluded.

The comment section erupted. One player quipped, 'Keep complaining and they'll add safety shorts on top,' to which someone shot back: 'Safety shorts would at least have more visual interest than this. How is this any different from my dad's thermal long johns?' Another user delivered the killing blow: 'The difference is nobody walks around in thermal long johns in public.'

The drama escalated as players brought up the infamous 'Big Egg Bro' incident for comparison — a previous controversy where a male character got detailed crotch modeling while female characters received minimal effort. 'They had the energy to add anatomical details to a male character but can't even put a pattern on a female character's stockings?' one commenter seethed. Another leaked that Cloud Retainer was reportedly absent from early Fontaine character lineup leaks, and combined with her widely criticized skill kit, speculated that she was a last-minute decision to make playable — hence the rushed modeling.

Not everyone was on the hate train though. Some dismissed the outrage entirely: 'How is this even drama???' Others fired back sarcastically: 'Don't ask, just say it's supposed to be sexy — even though nobody can explain what's sexy about it.' One particularly jaded player summed it up: 'The simps (龟龟, literally 'turtle' — slang for gacha whales who defend everything) are easy to please anyway. Just throw something together and they'll find reasons to cope.'

As of now, miHoYo has made no official response to the modeling quality controversy. However, eagle-eyed defenders pointed out that there are actually two small stripe patterns on the pants — they're just nearly invisible in the sea of black, which ironically only reinforces the 'phoning it in' accusations.