Why are hapas in anime always portrayed with blonde hair and blue eyes?

15poundfish said:
No, you should go read a biology textbook and learn about genes. I have seen Hapa's in real life with blue/green eyes, white skin, etc. I have also met a girl that was half african and half white european (black mother and white father) and she has white skin. Sometimes its best not to make assumptions about someone's ancestry until meeting their parents.

MortalMelancholy said:
I've heard of hippos, hipsters, fence-hoppers... What the hell are hapas?

MechKingKillbot said:
I'm sure the thread title is a hyperbole, but in case it's not.

Hapas aren't always portrayed as blue eyes with blonde hair in anime

Examples:

Kallen Koizuki (Code Geass) White (assuming Britannia is white) father + Asian mother
Jotaro Kujo (JJBA) Asian father + White mother
Josuke Higashikata (JJBA): White father + Asian mother

tragedydesu said:
i dont know

all i know that Shitoge is a disgusting bitch

Z-Dante said:
Anyways, what's up with all these blue eyed characters while emerald green eyes are superior in literally every way??

Omkar_Nagwade said:


Onodera and Tsugumi were best grills.

But unfortunately, .

DecimXX said:
@zombie_pegasus basically said it all


Getting real tired of this. Only people who say this are people who have never interacted with normal Japanese people. Anti foreigner bias exist in the system, but not in the people. Western concept of continuously struggling for political correctness is foreign to Japan, and it is a society which would rather live with the problem instead of demanding change, and is slow in fixing the problem. But that dont mean people look down on you or anything.

To fix skewed views like this, people should try watching videos that interact with actual Japanese people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x0Kv5pKuTk&t=15s

DecimXX said:

Again, have you interacted with them at all? Media fail at providing accurate portrayal of any single single country, and that is same for Japan (Im not a Trump supporter, but agree with him on criticizing for the pathetic job they do)

Also since the definition of prejudice is 'preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience', it may apply to you in this regard

Nvortex said:

And you should go work on your reading comprehension. The odds of an Asian parent contributing a recessive gene for blue eyes is far lower than a dominant one for brown. The odds of an Asian having that recessive gene is entirely based on their family history. I explicitly said that it's rare, not that it couldn't happen.

15poundfish said:
What is the percentage then? You act like a non brown eyed asian is as rare as an albino in your post. If you want a reason why they usually have blonde haired blue eyed characters as hapa's its because most of the time its impossible to know what the race of an anime character without being told it or shown it visually with hair color and eye color. Anime and Cartoons rarely strives for realistic representation of human ethnic groups and cannot do it especially when distinguishing races is impossible without getting the facial characteristics correct.


Pop Quiz: What race is Twintelle? Is She black or is she a dark skinned japanese gyaru?

Nvortex said:

It's not quite at albino level of rarity, but it is still rare. The further you get away from Scandinavia, the greater the melanin levels get. Most black or Asian people who carry the genes for light eyes likely do so because of colonialism or steppe migration. It's contextual. There is a much higher chance that a half white, half central Asian will have blue eyes than a half white, half Japanese, because central Asia has had a history of migration and mixing from Europe. Japan and most of East Asia have not. Most hapas in Japan, East Asia, and the West are the products of East Asian and White, and by proxy, are highly likely not to have light eyes.

Nvortex said:

In almost every case, we are told the race of a non-Japanese character, so having to compound visual confirmation on top of that seems redundant.

15poundfish said:
What is the percentage then? You act like a non brown eyed asian is as rare as an albino in your post. If you want a reason why they usually have blonde haired blue eyed characters as hapa's its because most of the time its impossible to know what the race of an anime character without being told it or shown it visually with hair color and eye color. Anime and Cartoons rarely strives for realistic representation of human ethnic groups and cannot do it especially when distinguishing races is impossible without getting the facial characteristics correct.


Pop Quiz: What race is Twintelle? Is She black or is she a dark skinned japanese gyaru?

15poundfish said:

I don't think creators sit down and look at the commonality of phenotypes of mixed race when creating characters. I think having distinguishable characters is something every anime should strive to have. The common anime art style can make it impossible to identify characters because of same face syndrome which is why characters have weird hair color, odd hair styles, etc.


Really, because depending on the anime you are watching you would never know. In some anime for example, silver hair is symbolic of a European foreigner and other times it means a specific character trait or nothing in particular. Anime generally has no consistency in ethnic hair styles and hair color I would rather have the confirmation if it becomes relevant in the story. In When marnie was there, the fact that the main character is a hapa and another character points it out her abnormal eye color triggered her outburst of rage is one of those little xenophobic/racists things people talk about with japan. Their type of racism is in your face but is mostly polite but will probably make people still feel like shit after awhile because they live in a country their whole life and never feel like they belong there when hearing those type of comments often. Whether you think the anime is stupid for pointing it out with the eye color is bad thing or not I think its good thing if it plays big part of the narrative. in When marnie was there, that scene and including her first name are done to help the viewer to build the right associations for the story the anime was trying to tell. Without those visual cues and scenes I bet people would have a difficult time understanding the story.

albertbrown said:
It's probably because the most creative people have blonde hair and blue eyes. I think there is a scientific reasoning because of this.

Nvortex said:


I agree with what you're saying here for the most part. I'm not really trying to challenge the artistic license of the creators. Like I said, I feel like there is a greater cultural impact on this issue than may otherwise appear, even if it takes a backseat to the expression of artists.

You make a good point about When Marnie Was There. I didn't really think about that. I suppose it is far easier to convey racism or xenophobia by targeting slightly more superficial features like eye or hair color rather than say, a more prominent brow ridge, a more neutral canthal tilt, or lack of an epicanthic fold.



Um, feel free to share said reasoning.