| EDIT: Some people on this thread assume that I'm "trolling" or making things up, but refuse to do a quick Google search. Yes, Japanese people have a stereotype that whites are blonde, blue eyed, and have big noses. There was even once a racist airline commercial about it. EDIT: Why are people still asking whether this stereotype exists, even after I put a link in the edit above? They could do a quick, less than 2 minutes Google search...but I guess that's asking for too much. So the stereotype of white people, according to Japan, and it also shows in anime, is that white people have blonde hair, blue eyes, and big noses. Blonde hair and blue eyes aren't nearly as common as the stereotype suggests, and I think Japan knows this, especially with the age of the internet. It's 2020, and yet anime is still behind the times. In American cartoons, there are more and more Asian characters being drawn with bigger eyes and lighter skin. However, how else can you visually distinct between Japanese anime characters and white anime characters? Whatever. The actual thing that confuses me is the "big nose" stereotype. According to the stereotype, whites have bigger noses than Japanese...but what I've seen suggests otherwise. To begin with, most Japanese anime characters barely have a nose to begin with: they're just tiny drawn triangles. Nobody in real life has a nose like that. White anime characters are drawn with noses that are supposed to be big or long...but don't look any bigger or longer than a normal nose. White anime characters:  Pretty much most of the characters in Vinland Saga have clearly drawn noses, but I don't think they're particularly big.   What's ironic, is that Tenma, a character who's Japanese, has a bigger nose than Johan, a character who is white:       Japanese people:       As you can see, the pictures of the Japanese people here have bigger noses than the anime characters who are white...huh?? Yes, if you look up Japanese anime voice actors, and probably actors, you'll certainly find they have smaller noses, but then again, voice actors are more famous in Japan than voice actors are famous in America (to my understanding), so I'm guessing that voice actors are partially picked based on their appearance, just like celebrities. Is my sample size too small? How big of a sample size do I need? Is this a case of where the majority has X, but Y is popular, so Y is over represented? As in, do Japanese people in general have noses around the same size as whites do, but because smaller noses are seen as the ideal beauty in Japan, Japanese with smaller noses are over represented in media? I'm genuinely confused. |
removed-userJan 19, 2020 11:54 AM
| I'm confused where you see the stereotype? This looked like reverse evidence. These characters all had pretty small/normal noses.. |
 |
| I don't think this specifically is a thing in anime. I can't think of clear examples. On the other hand, there's plenty of other stereotypes like blonde hair or blue eyes or higher stature. |
| I've never heard about this "big nose" business, I don't think it's a thing. |
| As you already mentioned, it's just a stereotype, the same way the west used to draw Asians with squinty eyes. It's the same as "all westerners have blonde hair and blue eyes." Many Japanese (if not most) probably understand that not all foreigners have these features. The reason we're doing better about that sort of thing in the west is that we have people actively trying to disprove stereotypes and have proper representation, but Japan doesn't have that. Japan ALSO does not have the same type of diversity here, so it makes sense that they might not depict westerners accurately; there are literally people in Japan who have never seen a white person IRL (let alone a black person or some other race). On top of that, there are plenty of westerners who think anime characters look white, while Japanese themselves think they look Asian. There needs to be some defining characteristics, so sometimes it is probably easier to draw different races with specific and more exaggerated features in order to easily mark them as "foreign." They probably just haven't found a more effective and less stereotypical way of doing this yet. As for Monster, it simply doesn't follow stereotypes in its art style. Because most of the characters ARE westerners, there needs to be more diversity in the cast as a whole, hence stereotypes would only hurt it and make it harder to tell the characters apart (they can't all be blonde-haired blue-eyed big-nosed people). On top of that, it has a more realistic style, so the features are less exaggerated than in a typical anime style with dot noses and alien eyes. tldr: It's simply for the utility of being able to quickly mark a character as foreign quickly. Stereotypes, misguided as they are sometimes, are generally for the purpose of immediately communicating something about the character. This can be anything from clothing to facial features. |
RealTheAbsurdist said: jal90 said: I don't think this specifically is a thing in anime. I can't think of clear examples. On the other hand, there's plenty of other stereotypes like blonde hair or blue eyes or higher stature. I said in the original post that it's a Japanese stereotype in general that whites have big noses, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Which completely confuses me: because even if they don't use the internet to Google it because no one's in the mood, surely most Japanese have seen at least some clips from Hollywood movies, which clearly showcase that most whites don't have blonde hair and blue eyes. In animation it's a way to make a point, visually speaking, that the character in question is a foreigner. Simply give them a weird hair/eye color and a different body type and done. Lazy and serviceable. It is rooted in stereotypes yes. But it's not like Japanese people, or authors, believe these stereotypes are true. They draw a stylized and simplified version of reality, often for a quick visual identification, not reality. They watch Western movies and shows, they know well enough that they are not true. |
| Poor troll effort, none of them have big noses and there's no comparison of. It just could be the style.  |
| First there is a guy complaining nonstop about black people, and now white too? Man what happened to the world? |
Daniel_DreibergJan 17, 2020 1:27 AM
 |
| I never noticed any of these things. But then again, I did not even know that some of the characters you listed were supposed to be white in the anime. I just assumed they were Japanese but had yellow hair because anime characters have weird hair colors... |
| They do this for the same reason Maui is depicted as a big, 'fat' man with a long and voluminous curly mane in Moana: it's an easily recognizable polynesian stereotype. While Japan arguably does it more frequently, I can't agree with the idea that the West is any better at its use of stereotypes. |
| Next thing you know op will make a thread about how westerners having bigged Ds than japanese supposed cliche. |
    |
| To me it seems that the japanese draw arabs with big noses which makes sense. Middle easterners seem to have bigger noses than europeans or japanese. |
| MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST |
| I always figured it was because Asian noses tend to be flatter or more rounded, rather than a difference in overall size. Little more than an easy visual cue as to the origins/background of a given character. |
 |
| why on western cartoon almost every asian character has small and slanted eyes? maybe, stereotypically eastern tend to view western people's has pointed and bigger nose than theirs, same goes western's see asians has really small eyes |
  |
| As post #9 said, it's a way to immediately establish a character's foreigner ancestry. It's not very accurate but it works, and well anime isn't usually as detailed to have subtle facial nuances anyway. |
 |
| I think they're insinuating that all these white characters are really jews. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| Anime characters don't look all that realistic so artists may have to use alternate means of suggesting a character's ethnicity where relevant. The results can be hamfisted in some cases. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
| Did you really have to drag Miyamoto into this? |
 |
RealTheAbsurdist said: I just Googled "Japanese people" and Miyamoto popped up. The problem? No, then you get results of a group of Japanese ppl, not just Miyamoto. So i think you specifically targeted him? |
|
| People really gotta find every little thing to get offended over good lord. |
My Queens  |
| Dear OP, saying "this is not a troll thread" doesn't magically make something that's obviously a troll thread not a troll thread. Also, if you don't want your threads to be perceived as troll thread, maybe think a bit more about your wording and don't start a thread with a topic title that has racially charged connotations. |
KristiwazhereJan 17, 2020 8:52 AM
   |
RealTheAbsurdist said: I'm guessing that voice actors are partially picked based on their appearance, just like celebrities. Okay, that one was stupid. They're "voice actors" not just "actors". They're obviously picked based on their performances smh in fact there are only a handful of really good looking voice actors. And yeah, westerners in general usually tend to have bigger and more refined noses than Asians whose noses are more round and flat but they don't look so flattering so people just don't draw them to make the characters look more appealing. |
| If you read Eleceed you're automatically my friend. |
| I actually noticed too a lot of the characters on Monster have big ass noses lol |
Jus1294Jan 17, 2020 9:00 AM
What a beautiful Duwang |
I think I'll lean more toward the it's just an art style side of things     |
Hey OP you seen this anime? Kaiji, all of the characters are Japanese. All of the characters have BIG noses. How do you explain this? |
RealTheAbsurdist said: You're making a big deal out of nothing, most give zero fucks of foreign characters have larger noses. People in the west generally have larger proportions than Asians anyway. It's common sense.-Mahesvara said: People really gotta find every little thing to get offended over good lord. If you actually read the OP, which is vital in many threads for context, you'd have read that I'm not offended; just confused. |
-MahesvaraJan 17, 2020 9:02 AM
My Queens |
Daniel_Naumov said: Literally artstyle WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE HOW THEY ARE NOT REMOVED FROM THIS PLATFORM YET1?1? Why do you need to be so dramatic lmao, not everyone is born with absolute knowledge you know. |
| "We could make the world better, but it's easier to just shut our eyes." ~Blackwall |
| Firstly, foreign girls don't have big noses. And I heard about white people have "blond hair and blue eyes" but never heard about big noses and it's probably because of art style. Just look at these characters (sorry for not uploading the pictures myself): https://myanimelist.net/character/85777/Takumi_Aldini https://myanimelist.net/character/152147/Dino https://myanimelist.net/character/30649/Sister https://myanimelist.net/character/700/Claude_Winchester |
More topics from this board
» How to avoid having biases on upcoming anime?ZeroMajor12 - 34 minutes ago |
3 |
by Alpha-Methyl
»»
3 seconds ago |
|
» Which school anime(s) do you WISH your time in school had been like?IpreferEcchi - 4 hours ago |
10 |
by SoumyaUkil73
»»
19 minutes ago |
|
» Do you miss the era of long running anime?rohan121 - 3 hours ago |
14 |
by MR-GRAYv2
»»
20 minutes ago |
|
» Anime That Badly Needs A F*cking Remaster! ( 1 2 )ColourWheel - Yesterday |
77 |
by ColourWheel
»»
30 minutes ago |
|
Poll: » What decade's artstyle do you think produces the most attractive characters? (What generation you're attracted to most)TheBlockernator - 12 hours ago |
13 |
by MR-GRAYv2
»»
31 minutes ago |