why is it widely accepted that slanting a chinese character's eyes is racist but anime does it all the time?
| ive been rewatching some childhood shows like FMA and Black Butler and something that both shows have in common is a canonically chinese character with closed/slanted eyes and just a bunch of stereotypes. and now that i think about it, thats like a really common trope for chinese characters? yet if a westerner does the slightest eye slanting then theyre bashed for being racist. why does nobody bat an eye when anime does this all the time? and why does japan actually do this? is it because of the whole china/japan rivalry? wouldnt it be contradictive since those stereotypes are often also used against the japanese? ive been so used to these characters that i never stopped to think that they are just a walking stereotype most of the time. dont get me wrong, some of them are insanely good characters like ling yao from fma, but im still curious about the whole slanted/closed eyes. i know other characters like ranpo from bsd have it but its definitely more common with canon/implied chinese characters. sorry if anything i said mightve come off as rude, please educate me!     |
| Because the people who say such things have a self that is deeply in turmoil, and they are more than happy to let others share in their turmoil by starting stupid witch hunts like this. The matter of the fact is whether something is rude or discriminatory towards asians has 0 to do with whether they depict them with cartoonishly slanted eyes. The nature of comics and manga and art is to accentuate things and to push boundaries. |
| You seem unaware that anime is pretty racist. |
| I understand why it's considered offensive, but it's always about the context. People with slanted eyes exist, it can't be helped. |
| That's not racist. Japan and China share a lot of things in common so expect to find Chinese characters in Anime done well, their culture is imporant. What is racist is what Western Animation do with every character who isn't American, they erase White/Black Latino characters existence and they made all of them mestizo, fully Japanese/Chinese characters are almost non-existent (I don't say never since I could be wrong but I wouldn't surprised if I'm not), for them an American character with either African, Asian or Latino ancestry are more African, Asian or Latino than characters who are fully African, Asian and Latino aka non-Americans. As Latino, Western Animation offends me. Western Animation doesn't matter when, its always racist, in the past they hated every non-white characters, now they hate every race -with white characters being the main punch bag- with a false belief of diversity which ironically its offensive to the races they claim to protect at the same time. I don't think I need to mention how stereotyped such characters are. In the name of false diversity, they are the true face of racism. More reasons to watch Anime, its always nice to every race on Earth interpreted in Anime unlike racist Western Animation. Anime is true diversity, truly diverse media don't preach about it. So no, Anime isn't racist towards Chinese people, in fact its the opposite, they love Chinese characters a lot. Western media loves to propagate false hate among Chinese and Japanese people, they don't hate each other. |
NurguburuOct 4, 8:21 PM
| BANZAI NIPPON. Nippon is the Land of freedom. Nippon is the Land of Peace. Nippon is the Land of Justice and Prosperity. In Nippon, we trust. We love Nippon, we love Anime. Anime love us, Nippon love us. 日本 |
| i never encounter this problem looks like another first world problem |
| Artists used to draw everyone with stereotypes. Cyborg 009 has a Chinese guy like that as well as an African guy in blackface. Sometimes even Japanese characters had slanted eyes! I think the practice remains common for the same reason westerners are frequently drawn with uncommon hair colors: It provides an easy way for audiences to identify foreigners. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| What do you mean by "widely accepted"? |
In 2019, Alita sued 20th Century Fox because AI was used to "enlarge" actress Rosa Salazar's eyes for a mocking effect aimed at denigrating her physical appearance, but lost the case because it was shown that anime girls actually have "scientifically" very large eyes and the movie wanted to be faithful to this aspect without mocking the physical appearance of her at all but quite the opposite. Alita in 2022 turned to a paper surgeon to do a blepharoplasty to lowering of the eyelids. |
| I wouldn't go so far as call this racist, but it IS a stereotype. I don't think they mean to demean the Chinese with this. It's just what (Japanese) people know and recognize, an easy (or "lazy," if you want to be harsh) short-cut; if you're an artist or an animator, how do you easily convey the fact that an anime character is Chinese? Korean manhwas and comic strips tend to draw them like this as well. They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese... I think the problem with Western media doing this is the fact that it's historically been motivated by racism, to depict the Chinese as ugly, silly and inferior. And it's still a very real problem Western societies are struggling with to this day. And naturally, people in those societies are far more sensitive about dealing with this stuff (as they should). |
Reply to perseii
I wouldn't go so far as call this racist, but it IS a stereotype.
I don't think they mean to demean the Chinese with this. It's just what (Japanese) people know and recognize, an easy (or "lazy," if you want to be harsh) short-cut; if you're an artist or an animator, how do you easily convey the fact that an anime character is Chinese?
Korean manhwas and comic strips tend to draw them like this as well. They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
I think the problem with Western media doing this is the fact that it's historically been motivated by racism, to depict the Chinese as ugly, silly and inferior. And it's still a very real problem Western societies are struggling with to this day. And naturally, people in those societies are far more sensitive about dealing with this stuff (as they should).
I don't think they mean to demean the Chinese with this. It's just what (Japanese) people know and recognize, an easy (or "lazy," if you want to be harsh) short-cut; if you're an artist or an animator, how do you easily convey the fact that an anime character is Chinese?
Korean manhwas and comic strips tend to draw them like this as well. They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
I think the problem with Western media doing this is the fact that it's historically been motivated by racism, to depict the Chinese as ugly, silly and inferior. And it's still a very real problem Western societies are struggling with to this day. And naturally, people in those societies are far more sensitive about dealing with this stuff (as they should).
perseii said: They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese... What stereotypes do they have? I wouldn't know, since I don't read Korean comics. |
| その目だれの目？ |
Reply to Lucifrost
perseii said:
They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
What stereotypes do they have? I wouldn't know, since I don't read Korean comics.
| @Lucifrost The usual Japanese are evil. In 90% action manhwas there would be a sequence as to how Japan is in turmoil and they come running asking to Korea for help. Only to be revealed that all that was a scheme to ambush the Koreans. |
 -Tohka is better than Kurumi. You can't change my mind. |
| I love ramenman, but the main reason is that anime is creatively free to go beyond the morality (pretty ironic saying that nowadays) of the west. I think it is silly to be offended by stuff like slanted eyes, fried chicken, big lips, or even indian feathers. |
 |
Reply to Lucifrost
perseii said:
They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
They also have less-than-flattering stereotypes about the Japanese...
What stereotypes do they have? I wouldn't know, since I don't read Korean comics.
| @Lucifrost Slant-eyed. Untrustworthy. Polite and timid on the outside, but who knows what's going on on the inside. If the Korean artists really wanted to get nasty, diminutive and buck-toothed, but I think this is a pretty outdated, frowned-upon caricature these days. Note that I've only been around Korean culture up till the 2000's, so a lot may have changed. These days they definitely seem to recognize that racist stereotypes aren't cool. But it's also undeniable that they still don't really like Japan in general, for historical reasons. |
karo86 said: why does nobody bat an eye when anime does this all the time? I saw people complain about it, although only a few. karo86 said: and why does japan actually do this? Maybe to show they are Chinese, maybe just a random character design choice. I doubt it's (always) done out of racist intent, as not all characters who have these slanted eyes are Chinese and the vice versa, and because not all characters who have this are created for the sake of mockery. Out of all the examples you provided, only the 3rd looks racist. karo86 said: i know other characters like ranpo from bsd have it but its definitely more common with canon/implied chinese characters. I'll argue differently, saying that it's more common with non-Chinese characters, from my experience at least. |
| I think this is one of those situations where if you're making fun of your own race, and in this case, fellow Asians, then it's often considered not that big of a deal; it would be similar to teasing and humor among Asians in most cases. But, if a non-Asian were to do the whole slant eye gesture, then that would be considered racist by many people because they're not Asian themselves. But, regarding the mangaka, whether the slant eye design on a character is considered to be racist or not, kind of depends on whether the character in the story is being portrayed in a negative light or not, and whether the character feels like a target for mockery or not. If the traits of the Chinese character are just traits at the end of the day, and those traits were never that focused and prioritized in the manga and anime, then there is a much higher chance that the mangaka isn't racist. |
Reply to Lucifrost
Artists used to draw everyone with stereotypes. Cyborg 009 has a Chinese guy like that as well as an African guy in blackface. Sometimes even Japanese characters had slanted eyes!
I think the practice remains common for the same reason westerners are frequently drawn with uncommon hair colors: It provides an easy way for audiences to identify foreigners.
I think the practice remains common for the same reason westerners are frequently drawn with uncommon hair colors: It provides an easy way for audiences to identify foreigners.
| @Lucifrost Is it blackface if he's actually black? |
Reply to thewiru
@Lucifrost
Is it blackface if he's actually black?
Is it blackface if he's actually black?
| @thewiru You know what I mean. He looks like blackface, or rather he did in the original manga. Newer anime design the African cyborg more realistically, but the Chinese cyborg still looks like a caricature in the version I watched. |
| その目だれの目？ |
Reply to Lucifrost
@thewiru
You know what I mean. He looks like blackface, or rather he did in the original manga. Newer anime design the African cyborg more realistically, but the Chinese cyborg still looks like a caricature in the version I watched.
You know what I mean. He looks like blackface, or rather he did in the original manga. Newer anime design the African cyborg more realistically, but the Chinese cyborg still looks like a caricature in the version I watched.
| @Lucifrost The reason that happened was that people from the time of Nagai and Tezuka had never seen a black person outside of foreign comics/cartoons, where they were depicted that way (And authors that came after them just copied Tezuka and his peers). It took years until they found out this was considered offensive. |
| It's about the intent. If you draw a chinese character with slanted eyes, but don't make him the butt of all racial jokes, then it's not racist. If you constantly make fun of their eyes and of other chinese stereotypes, then it's racist. Nothing wrong with making racial jokes btw. It should be allowed under freedom of speech. People who can't handle it just need to grow thicker skin or leave the internet. |
| so yeah unfortunately some are gonna feel insecure cause of it. probably it's best why we really never see much of black character in first place. sorry if off topic but if anyone haven't seen it, shinjuku street that have jackie chan in this movie kinda captures the feel of japan vs china mentality. not saying it's a good research material per se, it's one of the movie about gang & drug that i did enjoy. |
hazecloudOct 5, 1:58 AM
| What's even racist about slanted eyes? That's simply the natural look of most East Asians. If Afro characters have black skin that isn't racist either. |
DesuMaiden said: Nobody resembles me physically because I don't even physically exist. |
| I suppose that "widely accepted" means it is accepted in the USA. In Europe I don't think we give a shit about whether an asian character's eyes are slanting or not. |
夏草や 兵どもが 夢の跡  |
| Japan have very big problem with Korea and China , they're more racist against them than any other type of people war create trauma |
 |
| This is an issue most of the world just never even thinks about. |
| Cucumber ice cream is the best! |
| It is well-known the japanese don't like other asians such as koreans and chinese. |
| Why does my *insert a retarded western culture* care about *insert retarded thing* while *insert superior eastern culture* doesnt? Truly a mystery |
 |
| People outside of western liberal hellholes are not that easily offended by literally everything |
 |
Reply to karo86
i specifically made a new post saying i want people who give good input on the topic and have something meaningful to say instead of just backhanded comments and jabs. is it really that hard to ignore a thread you dont like?
@karo86 Because there isn't anything meaningful in discussing on affairs and policies with people of different believes, and saying any further than backhanded comments and jabs would result in troubles? Guess that answered your supposed 'rhetorical' questions. Is it that hard to refrain yourself from posing questions that others surely feel unpleasant to answer unironically? |
SgtBateManOct 5, 3:51 AM
Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone. Helpppppp!  |
Reply to SgtBateMan
@karo86 Because there isn't anything meaningful in discussing on affairs and policies with people of different believes, and saying any further than backhanded comments and jabs would result in troubles?
Guess that answered your supposed 'rhetorical' questions. Is it that hard to refrain yourself from posing questions that others surely feel unpleasant to answer unironically?
Guess that answered your supposed 'rhetorical' questions. Is it that hard to refrain yourself from posing questions that others surely feel unpleasant to answer unironically?
| @SgtBateMan i dont think its that hard. lots of people made good points about how racism is seen differently in different cultures; how the whole slanted eyes is a common trope in other characters; relations between japan, china and even korea. these are the comments im looking for, people who bother to actually engage in a meaningful discussion instead of taking the opportunity to give me backhanded comments. im here to get educated as ive stated multiple times, not to deal with unnecessary comments made for no purpose other than being rude. its honestly childish when im trying to have a normal conversation and ive made it clear multiple times that i want serious answers and i am open to discussion and i dont want jabs for the sake of jabs. if you are against anything i said (which once again, ive stated that i dont agree with it myself, i was just curious and wanted to know more), then either take 10 seconds of your precious trolling time to write something meaningful instead of being mean? we're not children here. unless you are. because a lot of you are giving me that feeling. its really, really not that hard to just think "i dont agree with this, i will continue scrolling" i dont think we're getting any further than this now either since it seems half of the replies just want to be petty because they havent read half the thread and they just want to let out their pettiness. ill delete the thread if it continues. no hard feelings, just disappointment that we cant have a normal discussion.  |
| nah its not racist to draw them having slanted eyes. its a distnguishable feature that helps us easily identify the ethnicity of a character |
 The end of an era. Thank you Wit, Mappa and Isayama. Feeling half happy, half sad. Kawaii waifus and precious best girls <3333 |
Reply to karo86
@SgtBateMan
i dont think its that hard. lots of people made good points about how racism is seen differently in different cultures; how the whole slanted eyes is a common trope in other characters; relations between japan, china and even korea. these are the comments im looking for, people who bother to actually engage in a meaningful discussion instead of taking the opportunity to give me backhanded comments. im here to get educated as ive stated multiple times, not to deal with unnecessary comments made for no purpose other than being rude. its honestly childish when im trying to have a normal conversation and ive made it clear multiple times that i want serious answers and i am open to discussion and i dont want jabs for the sake of jabs.
if you are against anything i said (which once again, ive stated that i dont agree with it myself, i was just curious and wanted to know more), then either take 10 seconds of your precious trolling time to write something meaningful instead of being mean? we're not children here. unless you are. because a lot of you are giving me that feeling.
its really, really not that hard to just think "i dont agree with this, i will continue scrolling"
i dont think we're getting any further than this now either since it seems half of the replies just want to be petty because they havent read half the thread and they just want to let out their pettiness. ill delete the thread if it continues. no hard feelings, just disappointment that we cant have a normal discussion.
i dont think its that hard. lots of people made good points about how racism is seen differently in different cultures; how the whole slanted eyes is a common trope in other characters; relations between japan, china and even korea. these are the comments im looking for, people who bother to actually engage in a meaningful discussion instead of taking the opportunity to give me backhanded comments. im here to get educated as ive stated multiple times, not to deal with unnecessary comments made for no purpose other than being rude. its honestly childish when im trying to have a normal conversation and ive made it clear multiple times that i want serious answers and i am open to discussion and i dont want jabs for the sake of jabs.
if you are against anything i said (which once again, ive stated that i dont agree with it myself, i was just curious and wanted to know more), then either take 10 seconds of your precious trolling time to write something meaningful instead of being mean? we're not children here. unless you are. because a lot of you are giving me that feeling.
its really, really not that hard to just think "i dont agree with this, i will continue scrolling"
i dont think we're getting any further than this now either since it seems half of the replies just want to be petty because they havent read half the thread and they just want to let out their pettiness. ill delete the thread if it continues. no hard feelings, just disappointment that we cant have a normal discussion.
@karo86 Ah, I see that you only tried to raise a problem out of thin air on how Japanese decided to design characters in Japanese cartoons. By the way, this is how their people actually look like |
SgtBateManOct 5, 4:39 AM
Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone. Helpppppp! |
karo86 said: ive been rewatching some childhood shows like FMA and Black Butler and something that both shows have in common is a canonically chinese character with closed/slanted eyes and just a bunch of stereotypes. and now that i think about it, thats like a really common trope for chinese characters? yet if a westerner does the slightest eye slanting then theyre bashed for being racist. why does nobody bat an eye when anime does this all the time? and why does japan actually do this? is it because of the whole china/japan rivalry? wouldnt it be contradictive since those stereotypes are often also used against the japanese? ive been so used to these characters that i never stopped to think that they are just a walking stereotype most of the time. dont get me wrong, some of them are insanely good characters like ling yao from fma, but im still curious about the whole slanted/closed eyes. i know other characters like ranpo from bsd have it but its definitely more common with canon/implied chinese characters. sorry if anything i said mightve come off as rude, please educate me! I have no idea, cuz no one should bat an eyelid anyway whether it's anime or a western cartoon as it is NOT racist! The majority of full-blood chinese genetically have slanted and/or narrow eyes, it is not racist to draw one of their defining facial fetures |
 |
Reply to SgtBateMan
@karo86 Ah, I see that you only tried to raise a problem out of thin air on how Japanese decided to design characters in Japanese cartoons. By the way, this is how their people actually look like
| @SgtBateMan idk what you want me to tell you man. firstly im talking about chinese people. secondly okay? i know what asians look like? i talk to asians every day? they still dont have closed eyes? you are clearly just here to be petty and you have no actual input or arguments to give. must live a sad life but it is what it is! if you want to make a point and make it quick, so something like @TsutanaiFuun just did. its not that hard can a mod lock or delete this thread? its going nowhere and i got my answers |
| You should delete your account if you can't distinguish between anime and the real world. |
Reply to karo86
@SgtBateMan
idk what you want me to tell you man. firstly im talking about chinese people. secondly okay? i know what asians look like? i talk to asians every day? they still dont have closed eyes?
you are clearly just here to be petty and you have no actual input or arguments to give. must live a sad life but it is what it is!
if you want to make a point and make it quick, so something like @TsutanaiFuun just did. its not that hard
can a mod lock or delete this thread? its going nowhere and i got my answers
idk what you want me to tell you man. firstly im talking about chinese people. secondly okay? i know what asians look like? i talk to asians every day? they still dont have closed eyes?
you are clearly just here to be petty and you have no actual input or arguments to give. must live a sad life but it is what it is!
if you want to make a point and make it quick, so something like @TsutanaiFuun just did. its not that hard
can a mod lock or delete this thread? its going nowhere and i got my answers
| @karo86 Same. It's further proved my point of your trying to raise a problem out of thin air without any basis taken from reality. Better leave your one room and actually touch some grass. |
Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone. Helpppppp! |
| If it is an Asian country that makes it then it's consider ok by the hypocrites. |
 |
Reply to karo86
@SgtBateMan id love it if you bothered to properly read anything i said. i have stated multiple times:
1. i personally dont find it racist
2. im not trying to come off as rude
3. this is not a serious topic and i am just curious
4. i am here to be educated
5. petty comments dont do anything
you are trying to make me the bad person here so bad but ive been fairly open the entire time. i have no issue with anything i mentioned, i just saw discussions about it online so i wanted more input on it. im here to learn and ive been nothing but respectful because i am doing this out of genuine curiosity and no hard feelings and youre making it really hard to have a normal healthy conversation. actually, i dont think you want a normal conversation to begin with. i checked your account expecting to be talking to a 15 year old boy but man, you are 25. you are 25 and trying to get petty jabs at some kid thats trying to get educated on a topic. please get a life.
1. i personally dont find it racist
2. im not trying to come off as rude
3. this is not a serious topic and i am just curious
4. i am here to be educated
5. petty comments dont do anything
you are trying to make me the bad person here so bad but ive been fairly open the entire time. i have no issue with anything i mentioned, i just saw discussions about it online so i wanted more input on it. im here to learn and ive been nothing but respectful because i am doing this out of genuine curiosity and no hard feelings and youre making it really hard to have a normal healthy conversation. actually, i dont think you want a normal conversation to begin with. i checked your account expecting to be talking to a 15 year old boy but man, you are 25. you are 25 and trying to get petty jabs at some kid thats trying to get educated on a topic. please get a life.
karo86 said: you are 25. you are 25 and trying to get petty jabs at some kid thats trying to get educated on a topic. I'm sorry for taking your virginity in life lesson. Life is harsh and unfair, especially when one contradicted himself karo86 said: i just became an adult |
Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone. Helpppppp! |
Reply to Zakatsuki_
Japan have very big problem with Korea and China , they're more racist against them than any other type of people war create trauma
| @Zakatsuki_ Can you explain that in more detail? |
| - it's their beauty standard at that time. - said western mostly had big nose is not racist here, and some women even prefer that. - my friends in middle school also joke about it but my chinese friend doen't feel offended at all. - i had online friends, and yes they're cute with small eyes. - in university i have 2 chinese friends, and again their eyes are practically small (both boy and girl) and it looks good on them. why is it widely accepted that slanting a chinese character's eyes is racist NO it's not but maybe yes in the west. even chinese make animation with this facial face not just japan. upin ipin from malaysia also make her that way. |
 - -  |
Reply to GinIonSui
@Zakatsuki_ Can you explain that in more detail?
|
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