The DISTURBING Truth Behind Why Anime Characters Don’t Look Japanese
Full Answer
Most anime characters look Japanese, which makes sense because most anime characters are Japanese. I honestly don’t understand how people can look at these characters and say they look white. What, is it because they’re pale? There are pale Japanese people. Is it because they have every hair and eye colour imaginable?
You say they look similar but all you’re doing is showing that anime characters can have black hair, be skinny, be boys, and be pale. The real fact is that anime characters hardly look like any human race. They’re ANIMATED PEOPLE. If you saw just the eye of one of these characters, you wouldn’t say, “hey that’s a white person’s eye.” NO.
So anime characters have light skin because they’re Japanese and most Japaneses have light skin. (notice: some anime characters are from another world and some of them are foreigner and some of them are different species) It is racist for you to say every East Asians have the same facial like small eyes and nose doesn’t has clipart.
Seriously though, if you mean “Why do standard Japanese anime characters look paler than their natural complexion”, that's because the Japanese standard of beauty is pale, un-tanned skin. Anime characters are (usually) designed to fit Japanese beauty standards, and along with sheet white skin, involve:
Because Japanese people worship the “white” beauty standard. Skin bleaching is prevalent in many Asian countries, and having fair skin with “European” features is their idea of beauty and success.
In Japan light or white skin is seen as beautiful, so most Anime characters are drawn with white skin. But that does not mean, that they are not Japanese. In fact, most Japanese people will identify these characters as being Japanese and not as being foreign.
If there are no stereotyped markings of otherness, then white is assumed. Americans apply this thinking to Japanese drawings. But to the Japanese the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their characters “look Asian”.
Outside of Japan and in English, anime refers to Japanese animation, and refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, anime (a term derived from a shortening of the English word animation) describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin.
The reason seems to be more historical and technological than some kind of art or costumes. Realistic lips are hard to draw. The lips has certain singularities that prevent creatives from trying to imitate them.
It is more common in Anime, but it can happen in any style. It might be just how the art style is, or the character might literally be lacking a nose. This noselessness is a favorite target of a Stylistic Self-Parody.
Using large eyes can be considered as one of the essential tools or techniques to add affluent expressions on characters. Inspired by Disney cartoons, Osamu Tezuka known as a talented Japanese manga writer, also started using that technique in order to emphasize greater expressions of characters.
Because they mimic humanoid appearances and are drawn to be attractive. This. Anime / manga characters are designed for emphasis on appeal.
Thanks to a surge in Chinese interest, anime sales are now booming: in 2015 alone, sales of the Japanese cartoons rose by 79 percent, with more than half of that increase coming directly from Chinese buyers. Having captured the hearts of the Chinese youth, anime is now coming for their wallets too.
No. It must be done in Japan, for a Japanese audience. Of which we (at least me) as American(s), watch. Hence Airbender, is not anime.
hanguk aeniTo distinguish it from its Japanese counterpart, Korean animation is often called hanguk aeni (Korean: 한국 애니; lit. Korean animation) or guksan aeni (Korean: 국산 애니; lit. domestic animation).
If the term “anime” refers only to animation created by a Japanese animation team, produced in Japan, and developed for a Japanese audience, then obviously the answer to the question “Can anyone outside of Japan make Anime?” is unequivocally “No.”
It’s because anime art is based off of Walt Disney’s style, and because drawing realistic people with pen and screen tones thousands of times is hard , especially if those people look familiar. Like many Japanese kids, I tried to learn to draw manga at one point.
Anime has been influenced by Western animation since its inception. Osamu Tezuka , one of the founding fathers of Japanese anime and manga, has openly expressed that his inspiration for characters, in particular, the big-eyes-small face combo, comes from Disney’s animation.
The anime that first became popular in North America and parts of Europe — Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Gundam, Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball — were all appreciated primarily for their grit. If you want gritty (or ironic comedy, as in Jojo), you draw chiseled faces. Those are the ones you’re thinking about.
There is one character that’s drawn on the show that looks like a character of a Japanese Samurai, Yajirobe. Him and a few others are drawn in a way that look less European. However often when they are given small or buffoonish personalities on the series. Non Japanese Asians are often drawn in this fashion.
If you want gritty (or ironic comedy, as in Jojo), you draw chiseled faces. Those are the ones you’re thinking about. Most of the shows that are popular in Japan feature characters with far flatter, more stylized faces. Also, noses are really hard to draw without making them look wrong or too attention-grabbing.
Don’t think that the average japanese person looks like anime characters. Anime characters are probably drawn following certain types of beauty ideals, and if you want to see the beauty ideals of a country, them you must take a look at the models, actors, singers and celebrities of that country.
The Other has to be marked. If there are no stereotyped markings of otherness, then white is assumed. To Japanese, the Default Human Being is Japanese. Therefore, due to the lack of salient racial details in anime characters, most Japanese people will assume that the majority of anime characters are also Japanese.
Anime characters have colorful hair, big eyes, white skin and most of the time colorful eyes as well. All these characteristics are indicative of Western people. We have blond hair or red hair, we have blue or green eyes and a lot of us have white Skin. So from our point of view, Anime characters look very much like western people.
They sometimes even carry a UV-resistant umbrella to block the sun completely. Because anime is a very exaggerated art style they naturally over-exaggerated the white skin aspect as well.
Another theory to why western fans think, that anime characters are western, is because they are imagining themself in the role of the protagonist or their favorite anime character. That is also why cosplay is such a big thing in western countries nowadays.
In Japan light or white skin is seen as beautiful, so most Anime characters are drawn with white skin. But that does not mean, that they are not Japanese. In fact, most Japanese people will identify these characters as being Japanese and not as being foreign. Video Player is loading.
The main difference they have, most of the time, is the form of the head and eyes. Rounder Eyes are perceived by the Japanese to be more Japanese-looking and characters with slimmer eyes are perceived to look more European. Rounder Heads are also more Japanese-looking and a slimmer face with sharper and more defined jaws are being perceived ...
Not only the art style but also the behavior of the anime characters greatly differs from reality. One example is the body bubble. In Japan, everyone is extremely polite and very aware of each others personal space. You will rarely see people holding hands or hugging each other on the streets.
They also used common features, that Japanese people find attractive in the new art style to make the characters more appealing.
Maybe some of them are, but most of them tan their skin because they think it looks nice with their overall eyes and hair, just like Asian/Japanese dye their hair because they think it looks nice with their complexion, and that is reflected in anime with different hair colors etc. Share. Improve this answer.
yellow hair – but they also have blue hair and green hair and all the rest. Therefore, hair colour is not about being true to life. small noses – compared to the rest of the world whites have long noses that stick out. white skin – but many Japanese have skin just as pale and white as most White Americans.
But to the Japanese the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their characters “look Asian”. They just have to make them look like people and everyone in Japan will assume they are Japanese – no matter how improbable their physical appearance.
Does anyone else still constantly read the closed captions even though they can hear the sound perfectly fine?
Not because you look attractive or vice versa, but the act of widening your eyes and looking directly at yourself gives me the heeby jeebies. It’s like I think to myself “am I really controlling this body”
It’s kind of refreshing honestly. Not having to hear about weird Hollywood award events where they all clap to their personal gods and give themselves a pat on the back.