<p>If we look back to Astroboy, the first regularly broadcast tv-length animated series, we can see that characters are still not necessarily Asian-looking</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GJYoem.jpg" alt="Astroboy"></p>

<p>Astroboy started off as a show targeted mostly towards the Japanese, but soon Tezuka realised that it would not strike a profit on this alone. 52 episodes were sold to NBC Enterprises (as opposed to NBC Network), who in turn distributed the show to several places throughout America.</p>

<p>Because of the US's different perspective of what is and is not acceptable for broadcasting on television, several episodes were not broadcast in the States - one of these includes a plot device where a message is held inside the eyeball of a statue of Jesus.
Because the US's involvement was critical for Astroboy's success, Osamu Tezuka &amp; his company Tezuka Productions Ltd. had to take this into consideration in later episodes that they produced.</p>

<p>Now that the US were a recognised target audience of the show whom had influence on its production, Tezuka advised production to make the show <em>denationalized</em> - that is, they started to include signs in English, removing 'openly Japanese elements' and overall, making the show more accessible to both local and foreign sales.</p>

<hr>

<p>Also, in the early days of anime, smaller Japanese studios were always competing with the large US giants such as Disney. As a result, Japanese animation was greatly influenced by them - Tezuka's style (along with many other mangaka's of this era) was quite Disney-like, subconsciously affected by the studio's large successes.</p>

<p>Disney's productions themselves were quite denationalized, some series more so than others, but American viewers did not have to experience a large stylistic change when watching Japanese cartoons - and for the most part, they usually assumed they were American.</p>

<p>Ladd with Deneroff 2009: 21 (on Astroboy in America)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"We don't plan to advertise the fact that the series
  is being animated in Japan. We're not going to deny it, if anybody asks, but
  we're not going to publicize it, either. First of all, there are probably some
  buyers at stations out there who still haven't gotten over the fact that Japan
  was our enemy in World War Two. Second, if a buyer hears that the show is
  of Japanese origin, he's going to think it must be cheap [...]"</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/v14dIm.jpg" alt=""></p>

<p>(American shows are mostly denationalized too)</p>

<p>This isn't the only show to have these concerns however. Denationalization is a significant part of anime history as Japanese studios were always competing with their American counterparts, whose animation was higher quality and cheaper to import than produce locally.</p>

<hr>

<p>Take a brief look at Scott McCloud's <em>Understanding Comics</em>:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/OecNw.png" alt="enter link description here"></p>

<p>The more generic a character, the more one can associate with them, and by choosing a neutral coloured skin tone, more of the audience will associate with it.</p>

<hr>

<p>As a counter example, an animated movie in which Eastern traits were desired was <em>The tale of the white serpent</em>. As you can see below, the design of the characters were more oriental. Anyway, denationalization has become the norm and only shows which seek to emphasize Eastern design include it.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/pRFrY.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<hr>

<p>Anime evolved with this feature in mind, and as other people have pointed out - audiences will always try to associate with characters in media, whether that be books, anime, film, etc. So, what may look <em>European/American</em> to you, may look equally Asian to those residing there because of the general design of the characters.</p>

<p><strong>References:</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>Anime: A History by Jonathan Clements (p123,124)</li>
<li>Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-29T23:36:31.243Z
This answer is more historically correct than Dimitri mx's answer which has more votes. It's true that Japanese think that Japanese is the Default Human Being, but the specific answer to this question lies in Tezuka Osamu, the "Father of Manga." Largely influenced by Disney animation character design, he set the standard of manga/anime character design. Disney is where anime’s large eyes, small noses, & non-black hair come from (true for human, animal, & robot characters). As Toshinou Kyouko points out, Tezuka's characters do not all look clearly white even though he adapted Disney's style.
seijitsu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-28T18:43:50.120Z
This answer uses clear and informative references based on historical facts, rather than the unsourced pop psychology in the article the accepted answer uses. I agree this should be the accepted answer.
Torisuda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-15T21:19:30.990Z
Wow - I was just about to comment under the top answer and mention McCloud's work, and then saw this. I just finished the book a few days ago.
Gallifreyan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-15T21:32:59.450Z
You may find [this page](https://gallifreyan.keybase.pub/random/cartoon.jpg) relevant.
Gallifreyan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-13T07:40:28.463Z
2015-05-24T08:35:53.893Z
2015-05-24T08:35:53.893Z
Toshinou Kyouko
<p>Um, sorry but they don't look European to me...</p>

<p>Their facial structure looks Asian, and their hairstyles are more in the style of Asian fashions (well, most Asian can pull it off since they tend to have younger looking faces). Their hair color comes in all ranges so that doesn't count.</p>

<p>When anime portrays Westerners, they tend to have bigger jaws (which is true) and you can distinctly see their nose is bigger/higher. (Look at Monsters for example: those Germans look like Westerners to me, while Tenma certainly looks Japanese.)</p>

<p>To be honest, in most animated Western movies, characters don't look like the average American to me; rather, it's their mannerisms that makes them look American. I was watching Tangled and I noticed that her eyes are very big, to the point where no one can have eyes that big, but minus the big eyes and her mannerisms, yes she comes across as western to me.</p>

<p>That applies to most anime, their eyes are impossibly big for a human being, but minus their non-human eyes, I see lots of Asian features in there, and their mannerism makes it more obvious. Take Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children for example. Most characters, like Cloud (minus blue eye and blond hair), look like Gackt, who is Japanese, to me. And Tifa looks very Japanese. the first time I ever saw a Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core/Advent Children cut scene, I thought they look very Japanese/anime aesthetic, and I haven't watched much anime at the time as well. You can argue that they look Eurasian more than pure European.</p>

<p>And anime looks out of this world, but with some Asian aesthetic. That's my conclusion. So I disagree; they don't look European. They look Japanese and I accept it as that.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-18T22:25:13.013Z
2016-12-28T14:23:33.593Z
2016-12-28T14:23:33.593Z
peace
<p>There's a huge diversity of faces among Japanese people.  Cartoon characters are hugely simplified, such that you can only typically identify ethnicity of a character if they're drawn to have stereotypical features.  But why should Japanese people draw only stereotypical Asian features on characters in a show 100% intended for a Japanese audience?  Generally, it is intended for people to assume the characters are Japanese unless stated otherwise.  </p>

<p>They only try to distinguish ethnicity in their character designs when the character is <em>not</em> Japanese, and then they tend to draw very stereotypical features.  From examples like that, you can also tell that Japanese people have a very different idea of what a stereotypical caucasian looks like too.  They tend to draw at least the men with clefted chins, square jaws, prominent cheekbones, wide mouths.  Sort of like how we draw stereotypical superhero faces, really.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-08T17:33:09.390Z
2014-12-08T17:42:25.340Z
2014-12-08T17:42:25.340Z
Kai
<p>I'm Chinese, but I see white people when I watch anime too. It is incredibly obvious actually:</p>

<p>White skin as opposed to Japanese toned. Round eyes as opposed to Japanese shaped, blonde/red/brown hair as opposed to black, and Caucasian face shape as opposed to Asian shaped.</p>

<p>Even though I grew up in Canada, I still don't think "white" is the default human to me. I don't believe Japanese see Japanese people either, unless the character is Tenchi or one of his friends or something.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-11T18:03:05.973Z
With hair though, sometimes it's a way to distinguish better between characters (or possibly isn't even meant to be realistic).
Maroon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-11T17:41:42.397Z
2014-05-11T17:41:42.397Z
Don
<p>As the top answers have already stated, the characters do look Asian from the point of view of the artists, but I want to add that Japanese people (and other Asian nations) <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china-and-its-neighbors/091123/asia-white-skin-treatments-risks" rel="nofollow">have a fascination with white skin</a>.</p>

<p>The linked article gives an overview of the phenomenon. Pale skin is seen as an ideal trait that many young women strive for. Its origin is not in trying to appear more Western or European, but rather has a history in economic status, where field workers who were out in the sun all day would have much darker skin than the aristocrats staying in the shade. Today, it is manifested as an unrealistic beauty standard for women, not unlike the ones in the United States and other countries.</p>

<p>How this relates to anime is that artists typically enjoy drawing beautiful people, unless they are concerned with realism (which, let's face it, most anime is not). In this case, that means having pale skin.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-29T15:53:01.083Z
2015-05-29T17:08:42.510Z
2015-05-29T17:08:42.510Z
Whelt
<p>I believe the Japanese were/are highly influenced by western and American culture. So to avoid looking like someone or as a self-hating country as a whole, they say they think that's how the average Japanese person looks instead of 'I like the way whites look.' This is just my opinion, but I see that it could also very much be a fact because if the Japanese see the characters as "Japanese" why just draw them the way we usually see them? Why not with dark skin, or different features? Features we usually see in other cultures. Wanna know why that's usual?  Because they don't like it, and don't. See the beauty in it and don't want to be or look like it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-08T14:16:14.743Z
2014-12-08T14:16:14.743Z
Lmfaooox
<p>I disagree that anime are portraying causcasian/european, because they're portraying Japanese obviously if they have Japanese names...
therefore I agree with Senshin, and Dimitri mx</p>

<p>If you look at the Japanese subcultures, they like to dye their hair in different colors to defy the norm, which are largely dark hair, not trying to look caucasian. 
I hear people claim that anime looks caucasian/europe makes me sad, as it shows how limited their world view is... 
Not all Asian has small squinty eyes, I've known a lot of friends who has round and big eyes, there are even more if you go to Asian countries. 
It's like saying those Causcasians who like to tan their skin are trying to be African American, or those who like to dance hip hop or rap are trying to be African American, but are they? Maybe some of them are, but most of them tan their skin because they think it looks nice with their overall eyes and hair, just like Asian/Japanese dye their hair because they think it looks nice with their complexion, and that is reflected in anime with different hair colors etc. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-11T18:04:49.773Z
"they're portraying Japanese obviously if they have Japanese names" - this is true, but the question is more to the effect of "why do people who are identified as Japanese in anime drawn to look like they're of European descent (in the OP's view)"
Maroon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-08T01:41:21.217Z
2014-04-08T01:47:03.540Z
2014-04-08T01:47:03.540Z
Dancing freedom
<p>I agree that in Aku no Hana they actually do look Japanese. Let's face it, we all know that Japanese, Chinese, and Korean have small, almost squinty eyes. White people don't necessarily have big eyes either, but they're bigger than the ones a typical Asian would have. Some say that the Japanese are trying to take over the world by drawing their characters as Caucasians. I have noticed that in animes the major characters are always white. It's very rare to even have an African character pop up every now and then as a on the side character, but that's about the most culture variation you'll see. </p>

<p>Religion doesn't pop up either in animes, with the exception of the monks, and statues of Buddha that appear(only Japanese culture is allowed in JAPANESE anime and manga of course). And my point on religion and the appearances of the characters is that not every one has the same way of life or is comfortable wearing mini skirts. In a lot of religions they're not allowed to do some of those things that people on animes do. Like dating, flirting, going all the way before marriage, or even as a girl showing your thighs to another girl is not allowed. 
So, in the anime world every one is actually the same, even though the main character is usually some what different from the others, but in a way that we can't relate to because it's usually impossible IRL. Like in the anime series Naruto, he (Naruto) starts out as an out cast because of the fox demon sealed inside him. Therefore, treated differently by his peers in a negative way.     </p>

<p>The thing about hair colour, well, Asians almost always have black hair. On the other hand, Europeans are more often found with hair that is red. But, I read that that it is possible for Asian and African people to inherit the two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein(causes red hair). Considering the facts, most red heads have European genes, which is why people on animes that have red hair or even blond hair with blue eyes AND white skin, look like white people. But when characters have randomly crazy, awesome and impossible IRL hair colours like BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE, PINK, TURQUOISE, etc. you know it's just part of the illustrators' design.           </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-31T02:46:38.387Z
sorry, but I'm not completely sure if you're answering the question here...
Maroon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-30T22:11:24.250Z
2014-03-30T22:11:24.250Z
Anonymous
<p>Just like <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/1908/senshin">@senshin</a> stated in his comment, for the Japanese people, their characters do look Asian.</p>
<p>There is a really nice article written about this on <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/08/30/guest-post-why-do-the-japanese-draw-themselves-as-white/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">thesocietypages</a> and as stated there:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white? You see that especially in manga and anime.</p>
<p>As it turns out, that is an American opinion, not a Japanese one. The Japanese see anime characters as being Japanese. It is Americans who think they are white. Why?  Because to them white is the Default Human Being.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Americans apply this thinking to Japanese drawings. <strong>But to the Japanese the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their characters “look Asian”</strong>. They just have to make them look like people and everyone in Japan will assume they are Japanese – no matter how improbable their physical appearance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In your question, you also said <em>&quot;Maybe it's the round eyes? And the non-black hair in some cases?&quot;</em></p>
<p>The article above also pointed out something about that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[...] the Default Human Being thing is so strong that lacking other clear, stereotyped signs of being either black or Asian she defaults to white.</p>
<p>When you think about it there is <strong>nothing particularly white about how anime characters look</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>huge round eyes</strong> – no one looks like that, not even white people (even though that style of drawing eyes does go back to Betty Boop).</li>
<li><strong>yellow hair</strong> – but they also have blue hair and green hair and all the rest. Therefore, hair colour is not about being true to life.</li>
<li><strong>small noses</strong> – compared to the rest of the world whites have long noses that stick out.</li>
<li><strong>white skin</strong> – but many Japanese have skin just as pale and white as most White Americans.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, there are also exceptions. A nice example is indeed <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AGJjJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Dan Eagleman</a>, as stated by @senshin. The moment they need to make somebody look non-Japanese, they will try to design the character more to the American/European stereotype, i.e.</p>
<ul>
<li>Bigger noses</li>
<li>Blond hair/blue eyes/white</li>
<li>Speaks fluent English</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-19T09:46:42.933Z
Another things is the shape of face, non-japanese or maybe rather caucasian male characters almost never have round faces. Also facial features are distinctively more accented. Chin and cheek bones, jaw, brow ridge. To Japanese caucasian have pretty "rough" faces. We (speaking as a caucasian) probably look kind of Neanderatlic =). Of course this is relative to the style. There are anime where character are realistic to the point that they look "really" japanese - Aku no Hana anime version being on top of my head,
luk32
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-31T17:31:41.283Z
So explain how Naruto is Asian-looking. -_-
Alex-sama
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-01T04:30:14.987Z
@Alex-sama have you even read the post above ^^
Dimitri mx
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-01T11:25:10.013Z
@Dimitrimx Of course I did. Naruto has blue eyes. I wouldn't see how a Japanese person could associate that with being Asian. Blond hair, fine. Sakura has pink, Kakashi, white. No conflict there, but the eyes? Essentially for me, it's to convey the story to a western audience
Alex-sama
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-01T11:37:57.173Z
@Alex-sama in that case. Ill keep it simple, Naruto aint supposed to be looking asian :).  SJ: If an American Naruto live-action film ever got made, who do you see playing Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke?

KM: Naruto has blue eyes and blond hair, so any child actor in America could play him. Maybe Sasuke would be someone Japanese-American, and Sakura, someone European. I'm not all that familiar with the names of child actors. I only remember Dakota Fanning... [laughs] I love movies and know actors' faces, but not the names. as stated in one of his interviews.
Dimitri mx
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-02T17:23:12.853Z
@Dimitrimx Therefore, wouldn't that contradict the above answer? Thinking of someone like Sanji from One Piece. He is exceptionally western, while Luffy and Zoro could easily be Japanese. I feel that a majority of the characters could symbolize Japanese people's perspective on how they look, but I am certain that various characters are drawn on a basis of assimilation into a western audience. Like Edward and Alphonse from FMA. They are meant to be Caucasian, or even Code Geass, where Lelouch is indeed Japanese and his friend/rival is indeed European. It could be due to the situation as well.
Alex-sama
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-07T08:26:47.997Z
@Alex-sama There are always deviations from the broad lines. Simplest sample i could think of is Muv-Luv where allot of people gather from around the world and still all look pretty much the same. No really exceptional changes. But it is not always needed to make the country of origin obvious anyway. So with my answer i just coverd the main misconception and offerd a small deviation. Otherwise I would have had to cover it on a per anime base. which would by far exceed the answer size/.
Dimitri mx
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-17T04:03:45.113Z
There's lots of anime out there where the characters really *do* look Japanese. That's why it's jarring that so many other anime characters look Caucasian.
David DeMar
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-24T08:59:37.300Z
I really like your answer because it basically points out the fact that humans are, by nature, egocentric. The world that *they* see is *the* only world. It is definitely a North American opinion that characters look "white", simply because that is the "normal" world to them. I also really like how you mention hair colour. Things like hair and eye colour are not indicative of a character's "race" or ethnic origin, simply because there are characters with blue hair, pink hair, red eyes, etc. These are traits that do not happen in real life, so _none_ of these traits indicate "race".
Sultan of Swing
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-26T14:39:55.130Z
Personally I think there is more to it then just the "Default human". Language and mannerisms play a big part in this too.  As a child, I watched anime in Dutch or English and would probably have guessed them to be "European humans". Yet later on I started watching in Japanese and started to become much more aware of the typical Japanese behaviour in characters opposed to European behaviour, which differs quite a lot. Despite reading in English, manga characters will always be Japanese in my mind due to their behaviour and choice of words. Europeans just don't talk and act like that.
Peter Raeves
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-29T23:41:23.850Z
Non-realistic colors of hair (which no real ethnicity are born with) in manga developed over time, especially through shoujo manga, which often creatively changes the characters' hair color in the full-color illustrations (printed in the manga magazine) despite whatever color the character's hair actually is supposed to be in canon; mangaka then experimented with canonizing those unusual colors such as blue, pink, green, etc. This historical practice is why you sometimes come across official color illustrations of Sailor Moon with pink hair or Ranma with green hair.
seijitsu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-12T00:18:40.227Z
While I think the blog article shares a valuable perspective, it should really be balanced against Toshinou Kyouko's answer. Yes, people do tend to see themselves in abstract representations of humans, but there are also concrete reasons, some historical, some financial, and some cultural, that anime characters look they way they do. To be honest, I don't like this answer much because it sweeps the discussion under the rug by summarizing the question itself is a thoughtless racist taboo.
DavidS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-02-17T13:47:19.893Z
2023-04-28T19:54:05.173Z
2023-04-28T19:54:05.173Z
Dimitri mx
<p>Anatomically speaking Europeans don't look like that either. But most of the people look more European than Japanese, at least it seems to me ... Maybe it's the round eyes? And the non-black hair in some cases?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-17T13:12:52.620Z
Might wanna take some time and read through this: [discussion](http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118463) Although there is allot of random talks there are some valid points stated about this subject
Dimitri mx
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-17T13:13:57.703Z
Somebody will, I'm sure, post a more detailed answer eventually, but the long and short of it is that from a Japanese perspective, the characters _do_ look Japanese, once you account for the standard alterations to facial structure that make animated characters look good. Contrast, for example, explicitly Caucasian characters like [Dan Eagleman](http://i.imgur.com/4xAsggs.jpg), who look distinct because they are specifically drawn to look non-Japanese / European.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-12T11:44:48.907Z
What about girls with pink nipples in anime and hentai? Pink nipples is a white trait. I think anime characters are usually drawn as white.
weirdalsuperfan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-29T23:43:51.273Z
The answer to this question is in Frederik L. Schodt's classic scholarly history book [Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics](http://www.jai2.com/onmanga.html#), which won the Japan Cartoonist's Association Manga Oscar Special Award, & he won the 1990 Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Manga Award. Please consider selecting Toshinou Kyouko’s historically correct answer, which provides references from published books on the subject, for this question: Tezuka Osamu, largely influenced by Disney animation character design, set the standard of manga/anime character design.
seijitsu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-30T00:14:57.837Z
Japanese drawing Westerners often use a racial stereotype of an enormous nose [1](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japanese-airline-ana-pulls-racist-advert-from-tv-after-complaints-it-stereotyped-foreigners-as-having-big-noses-and-blonde-hair-9073846.html),
[2](http://gakuran.com/hi-im-a-foreigner-racist-party-mask/) w/ poor Japanese pronunciation: [Hans Castorp](https://neurolit.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/castorp.jpg) in The Wind Rises. Their image of Americans is blonde (though most Americans aren’t). For hair colors other than yellow, the artist likely didn't think "Caucasian."
seijitsu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-01T23:08:33.737Z
See also this previous SE [question](http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4748/why-do-anime-manga-characters-have-big-eyes) and its answer.
seijitsu
<anime-history>
Why are most people in anime white or European-looking (instead of Japanese)?
# Why are most people in anime white or European-looking (instead of Japanese)?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-02-17
Anatomically speaking Europeans don't look like that either. But most of the people look more European than Japanese, at least it seems to me ... Maybe it's the round eyes? And the non-black hair in some cases?
**Tags:** anime-history
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Might wanna take some time and read through this: [discussion](http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118463) Although there is allot of random talks there are some valid points stated about this subject  
> **username_2**: Somebody will, I'm sure, post a more detailed answer eventually, but the long and short of it is that from a Japanese perspective, the characters _do_ look Japanese, once you account for the standard alterations to facial structure that make animated characters look good. Contrast, for example, explicitly Caucasian characters like [Dan Eagleman](http://i.imgur.com/4xAsggs.jpg), who look distinct because they are specifically drawn to look non-Japanese / European.  
> **username_3**: What about girls with pink nipples in anime and hentai? Pink nipples is a white trait. I think anime characters are usually drawn as white.  
> **username_4**: The answer to this question is in Frederik L. Schodt's classic scholarly history book [Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics](http://www.jai2.com/onmanga.html#), which won the Japan Cartoonist's Association Manga Oscar Special Award, & he won the 1990 Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Manga Award. Please consider selecting Toshinou Kyouko’s historically correct answer, which provides references from published books on the subject, for this question: Tezuka Osamu, largely influenced by Disney animation character design, set the standard of manga/anime character design.  
> **username_4**: Japanese drawing Westerners often use a racial stereotype of an enormous nose [1](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japanese-airline-ana-pulls-racist-advert-from-tv-after-complaints-it-stereotyped-foreigners-as-having-big-noses-and-blonde-hair-9073846.html),
[2](http://gakuran.com/hi-im-a-foreigner-racist-party-mask/) w/ poor Japanese pronunciation: [Hans Castorp](https://neurolit.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/castorp.jpg) in The Wind Rises. Their image of Americans is blonde (though most Americans aren’t). For hair colors other than yellow, the artist likely didn't think "Caucasian."  
> **username_4**: See also this previous SE [question](http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4748/why-do-anime-manga-characters-have-big-eyes) and its answer.  
---
## 9 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2014-02-17. Score: 47 | Accepted answer
Just like [@senshin](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/1908/senshin) stated in his comment, for the Japanese people, their characters do look Asian.

There is a really nice article written about this on [thesocietypages](http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/08/30/guest-post-why-do-the-japanese-draw-themselves-as-white/) and as stated there:

> Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white? You see that especially in manga and anime.
>
> As it turns out, that is an American opinion, not a Japanese one. The Japanese see anime characters as being Japanese. It is Americans who think they are white. Why? Because to them white is the Default Human Being.
>
> [...]
>
> Americans apply this thinking to Japanese drawings. **But to the Japanese the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their characters “look Asian”**. They just have to make them look like people and everyone in Japan will assume they are Japanese – no matter how improbable their physical appearance.

In your question, you also said *"Maybe it's the round eyes? And the non-black hair in some cases?"*

The article above also pointed out something about that:

> [...] the Default Human Being thing is so strong that lacking other clear, stereotyped signs of being either black or Asian she defaults to white.
>
> When you think about it there is **nothing particularly white about how anime characters look**:
>
> * **huge round eyes** – no one looks like that, not even white people (even though that style of drawing eyes does go back to Betty Boop).
> * **yellow hair** – but they also have blue hair and green hair and all the rest. Therefore, hair colour is not about being true to life.
> * **small noses** – compared to the rest of the world whites have long noses that stick out.
> * **white skin** – but many Japanese have skin just as pale and white as most White Americans.

Of course, there are also exceptions. A nice example is indeed [Dan Eagleman](https://i.sstatic.net/AGJjJ.jpg), as stated by @senshin. The moment they need to make somebody look non-Japanese, they will try to design the character more to the American/European stereotype, i.e.

* Bigger noses
* Blond hair/blue eyes/white
* Speaks fluent English
> **Comments:**
> **username_16** (2014-02-19): Another things is the shape of face, non-japanese or maybe rather caucasian male characters almost never have round faces. Also facial features are distinctively more accented. Chin and cheek bones, jaw, brow ridge. To Japanese caucasian have pretty "rough" faces. We (speaking as a caucasian) probably look kind of Neanderatlic =). Of course this is relative to the style. There are anime where character are realistic to the point that they look "really" japanese - Aku no Hana anime version being on top of my head,  
> **username_17** (2014-03-31): So explain how Naruto is Asian-looking. -_-  
> **username_1** (2014-04-01): @Alex-sama have you even read the post above ^^  
> **username_17** (2014-04-01): @Dimitrimx Of course I did. Naruto has blue eyes. I wouldn't see how a Japanese person could associate that with being Asian. Blond hair, fine. Sakura has pink, Kakashi, white. No conflict there, but the eyes? Essentially for me, it's to convey the story to a western audience  
> **username_1** (2014-04-01): @Alex-sama in that case. Ill keep it simple, Naruto aint supposed to be looking asian :).  SJ: If an American Naruto live-action film ever got made, who do you see playing Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke?

KM: Naruto has blue eyes and blond hair, so any child actor in America could play him. Maybe Sasuke would be someone Japanese-American, and Sakura, someone European. I'm not all that familiar with the names of child actors. I only remember Dakota Fanning... [laughs] I love movies and know actors' faces, but not the names. as stated in one of his interviews.  
> **username_17** (2014-04-02): @Dimitrimx Therefore, wouldn't that contradict the above answer? Thinking of someone like Sanji from One Piece. He is exceptionally western, while Luffy and Zoro could easily be Japanese. I feel that a majority of the characters could symbolize Japanese people's perspective on how they look, but I am certain that various characters are drawn on a basis of assimilation into a western audience. Like Edward and Alphonse from FMA. They are meant to be Caucasian, or even Code Geass, where Lelouch is indeed Japanese and his friend/rival is indeed European. It could be due to the situation as well.  
> **username_1** (2014-04-07): @Alex-sama There are always deviations from the broad lines. Simplest sample i could think of is Muv-Luv where allot of people gather from around the world and still all look pretty much the same. No really exceptional changes. But it is not always needed to make the country of origin obvious anyway. So with my answer i just coverd the main misconception and offerd a small deviation. Otherwise I would have had to cover it on a per anime base. which would by far exceed the answer size/.  
> **username_18** (2014-09-17): There's lots of anime out there where the characters really *do* look Japanese. That's why it's jarring that so many other anime characters look Caucasian.  
> **username_19** (2015-05-24): I really like your answer because it basically points out the fact that humans are, by nature, egocentric. The world that *they* see is *the* only world. It is definitely a North American opinion that characters look "white", simply because that is the "normal" world to them. I also really like how you mention hair colour. Things like hair and eye colour are not indicative of a character's "race" or ethnic origin, simply because there are characters with blue hair, pink hair, red eyes, etc. These are traits that do not happen in real life, so _none_ of these traits indicate "race".  
> **username_20** (2015-05-26): Personally I think there is more to it then just the "Default human". Language and mannerisms play a big part in this too.  As a child, I watched anime in Dutch or English and would probably have guessed them to be "European humans". Yet later on I started watching in Japanese and started to become much more aware of the typical Japanese behaviour in characters opposed to European behaviour, which differs quite a lot. Despite reading in English, manga characters will always be Japanese in my mind due to their behaviour and choice of words. Europeans just don't talk and act like that.  
> **username_4** (2015-05-29): Non-realistic colors of hair (which no real ethnicity are born with) in manga developed over time, especially through shoujo manga, which often creatively changes the characters' hair color in the full-color illustrations (printed in the manga magazine) despite whatever color the character's hair actually is supposed to be in canon; mangaka then experimented with canonizing those unusual colors such as blue, pink, green, etc. This historical practice is why you sometimes come across official color illustrations of Sailor Moon with pink hair or Ranma with green hair.  
> **username_21** (2022-02-12): While I think the blog article shares a valuable perspective, it should really be balanced against Toshinou Kyouko's answer. Yes, people do tend to see themselves in abstract representations of humans, but there are also concrete reasons, some historical, some financial, and some cultural, that anime characters look they way they do. To be honest, I don't like this answer much because it sweeps the discussion under the rug by summarizing the question itself is a thoughtless racist taboo.  
---
### Answer by username_5 on 2015-01-13. Score: 26
If we look back to Astroboy, the first regularly broadcast tv-length animated series, we can see that characters are still not necessarily Asian-looking

![Astroboy](https://i.sstatic.net/GJYoem.jpg)

Astroboy started off as a show targeted mostly towards the Japanese, but soon Tezuka realised that it would not strike a profit on this alone. 52 episodes were sold to NBC Enterprises (as opposed to NBC Network), who in turn distributed the show to several places throughout America.

Because of the US's different perspective of what is and is not acceptable for broadcasting on television, several episodes were not broadcast in the States - one of these includes a plot device where a message is held inside the eyeball of a statue of Jesus.
Because the US's involvement was critical for Astroboy's success, Osamu Tezuka & his company Tezuka Productions Ltd. had to take this into consideration in later episodes that they produced.

Now that the US were a recognised target audience of the show whom had influence on its production, Tezuka advised production to make the show *denationalized* - that is, they started to include signs in English, removing 'openly Japanese elements' and overall, making the show more accessible to both local and foreign sales.

---

Also, in the early days of anime, smaller Japanese studios were always competing with the large US giants such as Disney. As a result, Japanese animation was greatly influenced by them - Tezuka's style (along with many other mangaka's of this era) was quite Disney-like, subconsciously affected by the studio's large successes.

Disney's productions themselves were quite denationalized, some series more so than others, but American viewers did not have to experience a large stylistic change when watching Japanese cartoons - and for the most part, they usually assumed they were American.

Ladd with Deneroff 2009: 21 (on Astroboy in America)

> "We don't plan to advertise the fact that the series
> is being animated in Japan. We're not going to deny it, if anybody asks, but
> we're not going to publicize it, either. First of all, there are probably some
> buyers at stations out there who still haven't gotten over the fact that Japan
> was our enemy in World War Two. Second, if a buyer hears that the show is
> of Japanese origin, he's going to think it must be cheap [...]"

![](https://i.sstatic.net/v14dIm.jpg)

(American shows are mostly denationalized too)

This isn't the only show to have these concerns however. Denationalization is a significant part of anime history as Japanese studios were always competing with their American counterparts, whose animation was higher quality and cheaper to import than produce locally.

---

Take a brief look at Scott McCloud's *Understanding Comics*:

![enter link description here](https://i.sstatic.net/OecNw.png)

The more generic a character, the more one can associate with them, and by choosing a neutral coloured skin tone, more of the audience will associate with it.

---

As a counter example, an animated movie in which Eastern traits were desired was *The tale of the white serpent*. As you can see below, the design of the characters were more oriental. Anyway, denationalization has become the norm and only shows which seek to emphasize Eastern design include it.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/pRFrY.jpg)

---

Anime evolved with this feature in mind, and as other people have pointed out - audiences will always try to associate with characters in media, whether that be books, anime, film, etc. So, what may look *European/American* to you, may look equally Asian to those residing there because of the general design of the characters.

**References:**

* Anime: A History by Jonathan Clements (p123,124)
* Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
> **Comments:**
> **username_4** (2015-05-29): This answer is more historically correct than Dimitri mx's answer which has more votes. It's true that Japanese think that Japanese is the Default Human Being, but the specific answer to this question lies in Tezuka Osamu, the "Father of Manga." Largely influenced by Disney animation character design, he set the standard of manga/anime character design. Disney is where anime’s large eyes, small noses, & non-black hair come from (true for human, animal, & robot characters). As Toshinou Kyouko points out, Tezuka's characters do not all look clearly white even though he adapted Disney's style.  
> **username_6** (2015-06-28): This answer uses clear and informative references based on historical facts, rather than the unsourced pop psychology in the article the accepted answer uses. I agree this should be the accepted answer.  
> **username_7** (2017-07-15): Wow - I was just about to comment under the top answer and mention McCloud's work, and then saw this. I just finished the book a few days ago.  
> **username_7** (2017-07-15): You may find [this page](https://gallifreyan.keybase.pub/random/cartoon.jpg) relevant.  
---
### Answer by username_8 on 2014-07-18. Score: 3
Um, sorry but they don't look European to me...

Their facial structure looks Asian, and their hairstyles are more in the style of Asian fashions (well, most Asian can pull it off since they tend to have younger looking faces). Their hair color comes in all ranges so that doesn't count.

When anime portrays Westerners, they tend to have bigger jaws (which is true) and you can distinctly see their nose is bigger/higher. (Look at Monsters for example: those Germans look like Westerners to me, while Tenma certainly looks Japanese.)

To be honest, in most animated Western movies, characters don't look like the average American to me; rather, it's their mannerisms that makes them look American. I was watching Tangled and I noticed that her eyes are very big, to the point where no one can have eyes that big, but minus the big eyes and her mannerisms, yes she comes across as western to me.

That applies to most anime, their eyes are impossibly big for a human being, but minus their non-human eyes, I see lots of Asian features in there, and their mannerism makes it more obvious. Take Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children for example. Most characters, like Cloud (minus blue eye and blond hair), look like Gackt, who is Japanese, to me. And Tifa looks very Japanese. the first time I ever saw a Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core/Advent Children cut scene, I thought they look very Japanese/anime aesthetic, and I haven't watched much anime at the time as well. You can argue that they look Eurasian more than pure European.

And anime looks out of this world, but with some Asian aesthetic. That's my conclusion. So I disagree; they don't look European. They look Japanese and I accept it as that.
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### Answer by username_9 on 2014-12-08. Score: 3
There's a huge diversity of faces among Japanese people. Cartoon characters are hugely simplified, such that you can only typically identify ethnicity of a character if they're drawn to have stereotypical features. But why should Japanese people draw only stereotypical Asian features on characters in a show 100% intended for a Japanese audience? Generally, it is intended for people to assume the characters are Japanese unless stated otherwise.

They only try to distinguish ethnicity in their character designs when the character is *not* Japanese, and then they tend to draw very stereotypical features. From examples like that, you can also tell that Japanese people have a very different idea of what a stereotypical caucasian looks like too. They tend to draw at least the men with clefted chins, square jaws, prominent cheekbones, wide mouths. Sort of like how we draw stereotypical superhero faces, really.
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### Answer by username_10 on 2014-05-11. Score: 2
I'm Chinese, but I see white people when I watch anime too. It is incredibly obvious actually:

White skin as opposed to Japanese toned. Round eyes as opposed to Japanese shaped, blonde/red/brown hair as opposed to black, and Caucasian face shape as opposed to Asian shaped.

Even though I grew up in Canada, I still don't think "white" is the default human to me. I don't believe Japanese see Japanese people either, unless the character is Tenchi or one of his friends or something.
> **Comments:**
> **username_11** (2014-05-11): With hair though, sometimes it's a way to distinguish better between characters (or possibly isn't even meant to be realistic).  
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### Answer by username_12 on 2015-05-29. Score: 1
As the top answers have already stated, the characters do look Asian from the point of view of the artists, but I want to add that Japanese people (and other Asian nations) [have a fascination with white skin](http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china-and-its-neighbors/091123/asia-white-skin-treatments-risks).

The linked article gives an overview of the phenomenon. Pale skin is seen as an ideal trait that many young women strive for. Its origin is not in trying to appear more Western or European, but rather has a history in economic status, where field workers who were out in the sun all day would have much darker skin than the aristocrats staying in the shade. Today, it is manifested as an unrealistic beauty standard for women, not unlike the ones in the United States and other countries.

How this relates to anime is that artists typically enjoy drawing beautiful people, unless they are concerned with realism (which, let's face it, most anime is not). In this case, that means having pale skin.
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### Answer by username_13 on 2014-12-08. Score: 0
I believe the Japanese were/are highly influenced by western and American culture. So to avoid looking like someone or as a self-hating country as a whole, they say they think that's how the average Japanese person looks instead of 'I like the way whites look.' This is just my opinion, but I see that it could also very much be a fact because if the Japanese see the characters as "Japanese" why just draw them the way we usually see them? Why not with dark skin, or different features? Features we usually see in other cultures. Wanna know why that's usual? Because they don't like it, and don't. See the beauty in it and don't want to be or look like it.
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### Answer by username_14 on 2014-04-08. Score: 0
I disagree that anime are portraying causcasian/european, because they're portraying Japanese obviously if they have Japanese names...
therefore I agree with Senshin, and Dimitri mx

If you look at the Japanese subcultures, they like to dye their hair in different colors to defy the norm, which are largely dark hair, not trying to look caucasian.
I hear people claim that anime looks caucasian/europe makes me sad, as it shows how limited their world view is...
Not all Asian has small squinty eyes, I've known a lot of friends who has round and big eyes, there are even more if you go to Asian countries.
It's like saying those Causcasians who like to tan their skin are trying to be African American, or those who like to dance hip hop or rap are trying to be African American, but are they? Maybe some of them are, but most of them tan their skin because they think it looks nice with their overall eyes and hair, just like Asian/Japanese dye their hair because they think it looks nice with their complexion, and that is reflected in anime with different hair colors etc.
> **Comments:**
> **username_11** (2014-05-11): "they're portraying Japanese obviously if they have Japanese names" - this is true, but the question is more to the effect of "why do people who are identified as Japanese in anime drawn to look like they're of European descent (in the OP's view)"  
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### Answer by username_15 on 2014-03-30. Score: -3
I agree that in Aku no Hana they actually do look Japanese. Let's face it, we all know that Japanese, Chinese, and Korean have small, almost squinty eyes. White people don't necessarily have big eyes either, but they're bigger than the ones a typical Asian would have. Some say that the Japanese are trying to take over the world by drawing their characters as Caucasians. I have noticed that in animes the major characters are always white. It's very rare to even have an African character pop up every now and then as a on the side character, but that's about the most culture variation you'll see.

Religion doesn't pop up either in animes, with the exception of the monks, and statues of Buddha that appear(only Japanese culture is allowed in JAPANESE anime and manga of course). And my point on religion and the appearances of the characters is that not every one has the same way of life or is comfortable wearing mini skirts. In a lot of religions they're not allowed to do some of those things that people on animes do. Like dating, flirting, going all the way before marriage, or even as a girl showing your thighs to another girl is not allowed.
So, in the anime world every one is actually the same, even though the main character is usually some what different from the others, but in a way that we can't relate to because it's usually impossible IRL. Like in the anime series Naruto, he (Naruto) starts out as an out cast because of the fox demon sealed inside him. Therefore, treated differently by his peers in a negative way.

The thing about hair colour, well, Asians almost always have black hair. On the other hand, Europeans are more often found with hair that is red. But, I read that that it is possible for Asian and African people to inherit the two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein(causes red hair). Considering the facts, most red heads have European genes, which is why people on animes that have red hair or even blond hair with blue eyes AND white skin, look like white people. But when characters have randomly crazy, awesome and impossible IRL hair colours like BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE, PINK, TURQUOISE, etc. you know it's just part of the illustrators' design.
> **Comments:**
> **username_11** (2014-03-31): sorry, but I'm not completely sure if you're answering the question here...  
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