Why are so many anime characters white?
- Thread starter Not G. Ivingname
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*fistbumps*slopeslider said:(0__o)NeutralDrow said:Japanese people have a very large range of skin tones, but tend to be fairer-skinned overall (exceptions in artwork, off the top of my head, would be Chika from Ai Yori Aoshi and Tatsuki from Gals).
Eye design is a confluence of factors: earliest anime design was expressly based on Disney cartoons, larger eyes are more expressive (especially in a animation style that tends to favor "false animation" or slower movements), and there's also a trend in Japanese artwork that people with narrower eyes tend to be more amoral (ala <url=http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5217/saitomc3.jpg>Hajime Saitou) or untrustworthy.
This doesn't hold, naturally, if the artist is specifically going for a more realistic style (like Vagabond, or the <url=http://ghostlightning.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/rurouni-kenshin-trust-and-betrayal-batoussai-tomoe.jpg>Rurouni Kenshin OVAs).
That's probably why, when Japanese do draw actual white people (as in, white Americans and Europeans), they have a disproportionate tendency to be blond. As well, the trend in Japanese artwork regarding pictures of outsiders tends to not be larger eyes, but larger noses.
EDIT: Besides, you used One Piece as an example. Even aside from the extremely stylistic artwork (I could counter with The Big O; those people look more Asian than Caucasian to me), do any of those characters even have recognizable ethnicity?
DID YOU JUST REFERENCE GALS.
YOU DID NOT JUST REFERENCE GALS.
...I THINK YOU JUST REFERENCED GALS.
My opinion of it is slightly mixed (some of it's pretty unsubtle, and there's a few characters I don't like all that much...like Rei, for whatever reason), but overall positive.
Besides, Tatsukichi's awesome. Of course I'd think of him.
anime characters are made to look like anime character they don't look human so who cares if they don't look asian
Hes not even a planet anymore, good to put it to good use. Anime characters in real life are fucking creepy.snowplow said:JESUS FUCKING CHRIST KILL IT WITH PLUTOjamesworkshop said:anime characters are made to look like anime character they don't look human so who cares if they don't look asian
Furthermore, the half-black guy has terribly large lips...Not G. Ivingname said:I just suddenly noticed this about anime, and japanese characters as a whole. Most of them are white. Naruto, Ken, Ichigo, Ryu, Mario, and every single final fantacy character (expect the "ethnic spice" as Yahtzee puts it), they all look Cacastion. Yes, I know that Japanese people don't have slitty eyes, buck teeth, and what ever else how they were protrayed in WW2 posters, but in the following image, what ethnicity comes to mind when you glance at these characters.
What I see is three white guys, a white girl, a half black guy, a half asian girl that looks like the woman from Smallville, and a deer.
Does anybody know why a culture that was cut off from the Western Wordl until a few hundred years (and the West has been either forcing trade on them, or making their cities fine radiated dust until a few decades ago) have so many of its characters being white?
It's no secret, Japan in general considers Caucasian individuals to be a sign of beauty, they also, in general, consider Negroid individuals to be ugly. It's not so much racism as it's simply a cultural preference.
From what I can gather the Japanese have been drawing themselves white for centuries, even before the arrival of western explorers. So I very much doubt it's because they think us caucasians are so damn purdy. I'd say it's just easier on the ink but honestly I could be totally wrong.
Okay, well nobody seems to have yet mentioned "Geisha" or "Kabuki" (thank you F3) but both of those revolve around very white faces. So, to grossly over-simplify, hookers and moviestars (or "theatrestars" if you prefer) have had their faces white for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Gee, I wonder why their anime characters look white...
Gee, I wonder why their anime characters look white...
Okay, looked some stuff up:
"In fact, a number of Japanese commentators have chosen to describe Anime as 'mukokuseki', meaning 'stateless' or essentially without a national identity."
"To [a pair of commentators] this deliberate de-Japanizing of characters is in keeping with their view of Anime as offering an alternate world to it's Japanese audience"
This comes from the book "Anime, From Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Updated Edition", pages 24 and 25. Hevn't read it fully yet, but that makes sense.
"In fact, a number of Japanese commentators have chosen to describe Anime as 'mukokuseki', meaning 'stateless' or essentially without a national identity."
"To [a pair of commentators] this deliberate de-Japanizing of characters is in keeping with their view of Anime as offering an alternate world to it's Japanese audience"
This comes from the book "Anime, From Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Updated Edition", pages 24 and 25. Hevn't read it fully yet, but that makes sense.
Your avatar puts me in a deep state of nostalgic relaxation, that movie was one of the best cartoons I have ever seen and GENUINELY enjoyed.Worgen said:
OT:Because Japanese people are not black.
Go by the shading of the skin if you were to then you get a lot of the anime characters to be of Japanese coloration. If you base that they are "white" on just their skin color then you are greatly mistaken because if you are to put their eyes and other features of their bodies together they are FAR from being white. Going with your "observation" of Ichigo. A character from the same manga who everyone calls Chad. He is Mexican if you notice not only is his skin color different but his eyes and body features are different as well. Its not that the characters are white its that you assume that they are white because of how you see the world. I am not going at you I am going at your narrow view point of manga and I am also going to leave you with this tid bit of information. Most manga and anime that are made take place in different dimensions so they are not humans as we know them and they do not have specific ethnicities but generally if they are from hotter climates their skin color is darker if they are from colder they have lighter skin. If you want to say people are all white then go for it but go look up a picture of people from japan and you will notice that they are also as you put it white.Not G. Ivingname said:I just suddenly noticed this about anime, and japanese characters as a whole. Most of them are white. Naruto, Ken, Ichigo, Ryu, Mario, and every single final fantacy character (expect the "ethnic spice" as Yahtzee puts it), they all look Cacastion. Yes, I know that Japanese people don't have slitty eyes, buck teeth, and what ever else how they were protrayed in WW2 posters, but in the following image, what ethnicity comes to mind when you glance at these characters.
What I see is three white guys, a white girl, a half black guy, a half asian girl that looks like the woman from Smallville, and a deer.
Does anybody know why a culture that was cut off from the Western Wordl until a few hundred years (and the West has been either forcing trade on them, or making their cities fine radiated dust until a few decades ago) have so many of its characters being white?
Ya, the simplicity of the art style that is anime doesn't really lend itself to a subtlety between White and Japanese. You'll also want to note that a hair color besides black doesn't necessarily mean white either.CoverYourHead said:
They look white because you think their white. The Japanese probably just see them as Japanese. All POV though they have made a few characters with obvious ethnicity though those elude me.