Anime has taken the world by storm and is continuously getting more popular by the day. There are many reasons behind its popularity ranging from the complex characters to the amazing plot and finally to the morally grey villains that somehow almost always manage to become fan favorites.
One other reason for the popularity of anime nowadays is its amazing animation. Animation studios are increasing their budget and the quality of animation is on the rise. Fans however are curious about one thing. They wish to know why anime characters don’t look Japanese. So, here’s the answer.
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What Is Anime?
Anime in very simple terms is animated cartoons. This may enrage many anime fans all around the world, but in a nutshell, anime is Japanese animation. It was not very popular in the world until a few years ago. It went on an upward trajectory ever since Covid and now most people have watched anime and those who haven’t, have at least heard of it.
The people who were once called weird for watching anime, are now asked for recommendations from people new to anime.
Some of the most popular anime are the Big Three. The big three anime are ‘Naruto‘, ‘Bleach‘ and ‘One Piece‘. In addition to these popular anime, there is another one that is a household and that is ‘Dragon Ball’. Goku and Vegeta are two of the most popular anime characters of all time.
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The Real Reason Why Anime Characters Don’t Look Japanese
This is a very interesting and frequently asked question. Any person who watches anime for the first time asks themselves this question. Whilst there is no definitive answer, speculations based on strong information are made.
Anime was based on American cartoons. They were specially designed to look like American characters to be watched by everyone around the world. One of the earliest mangakas took inspiration from Disney characters in 1950 and started drawing their characters in that way.
Another reason for them not looking Japanese is that anime is based on imagination and the characters look ideal. Anime characters generally have fair skin and very big eyes. Japan has a preference for fair skin and big eyes and it shows in the animation. Also, small eyes are hard to draw for a mangaka.
Adding emotion to small eyes is very hard and often fails. As a result, mangakas draw big eyes to portray emotions properly and with ease. These are the reasons why anime characters don’t look Japanese.
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