Why in Japanese anime all characters look like Europeans or Americans? I think that almost every one of us had this question. There is a huge variety of opinions on this subject, and this is not a new topic especially among fans of Japanese animation, but I tried to collect all the basic points of view and give everyone a chance to draw their own conclusions.
What is anime? This of course Japanese animated films. So why did they get their own name? The fact that the anime is for the most part the cartoons are not for kids, but for teenagers and even adults. In this case, almost all anime TV series based on the Japanese comics, called manga, i.e. the story in pictures. For the Japanese manga and anime is a culture that is revered by the Japanese no less than fine art. So who do you draw Japanese people in anime? Asians or Europeans (Americans)? We'll try to figure it out.
The first version - the commercial one.
the Father of modern anime is Osamu Tezuka. The work of the famous Japanese animator is largely influenced by the cartoons of Walt Disney. Osamu moved some of the features of the Disney characters on their characters. And, indeed, pre-war Japanese cartoons Bouken Dankichi or Kosei Tanken contain the characters a much more Asian appearance. Osamu Tezuka came up with the famous Astroboy. In the fifties Astro boy was the first regular Japanese animated TV series, which was originally intended only for the domestic audience. However, after the American network NBC bought 52 series of one of the seasons, Astroboy became popular almost all over the world.
the source of the picture
'8195; Aware of the fact that it is NBC Osama owes such popularity to his animated series, in subsequent seasons he listened to the request of American partners to make the characters even more Europeanized. Osama followers not to depart from tradition and thus all of the major characters of modern anime got the European appearance.
Version of the second - ethnic version.
& #8195; the Japanese have always considered themselves special in their racial origin. They never considered themselves to be similar to Chinese or Koreans. For the sake of justice, the Japanese are really different in appearance from their Asian neighbors. There is still no consensus about the true origin of the Japanese. If we discard not so long ago the popular version of the" divine origin " of the Japanese people, then perhaps the most popular version will remain the origin of modern Japanese from *Ainu. Ainu - the ancient tribes that once inhabited all the Islands of Japan. Having met Ainu for the first time in the 17th-18th century, Europeans were surprised that Ainu more similar to Europeans than Asians. Ainu has thick hair and abundant vegetation on her face. The Ainu wore heavy beards and had lighter skin than the typical Mongoloids. By the way, modern Japanese anthropologists show an enviable consensus that the real Ainu, who inhabited Japan, are natives of Siberia. Today, according to unofficial data, about 200,000 Ainu live in Japan.
Ainu family of 1904 the source of the photo
in the process of many years of assimilation of the Ainu and a variety of Chinese and Korean tribes who constantly migrated from continent to Islands appeared Japanese, in the form in which we know them today. The science of DNA genealogy claims that the Ainu and the Japanese are too far from the Aryan haplogroup, but the Japanese, especially Japanese women, have always wanted to be as similar to Europeans. Surgery to change the shape of the eyes is still considered one of the most popular in Japan, while the first such procedures have become fashionable in the late 19th century.
Version three is rational.
And why we all think that anime characters look more like Europeans or Americans? It's just our perception. In fact, the Japanese believe that anime characters look quite Japanese. Imagine the Emoji. Is he more European or Asian?
the Answer is obvious. The simpler and simpler the face is drawn, the more people will take it for their own.
In the book of the famous artist, comic book author, Scott McCloud "understanding the comic book", there is a great illustration:
the source of the picture
In Fact, looking at the simplistic image of the face, we see ourselves, not Jackie Chan. And he sees himself there, too, not Louis Armstrong. That's the whole answer. For Japanese, by the default, character is Japanese! So they don't need to make their characters “Asian."
So why in modern anime all the characters have such brightly colored eyes and hair? Just so not to confuse the characters together.
In conclusion, a short joke from Europeans: "in China there is no concept changed, there is a concept mixed. You know? I am sure that the Chinese tell this anecdote quite differently.
Which version of you seems the most likely, to decide only you.
The illustrations used in the article have a license with cc0 or a reference to the source.
Alexey