AnimeSuki Forums

RobertM · 2004-06-26, 19:19

Oh, and here's another one. On the ADV DVD of Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, switch back and forth between the dub and the sub on the previews. I challenge anyone to refute my claim that the Japanese VAs look more like anime characters than the American ones.

Secca · 2004-06-26, 19:39

I tought blue hair is more popular than blonde in anime. I don't know how many guys in the anime club I'm at, that worship Rei. I'm suspecting they built a shrine somewhere. ^^;;

RobertM · 2004-06-26, 19:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secca

I tought blue hair is more popular than blonde in anime. I don't know how many guys in the anime club I'm at, that worship Rei. I'm suspecting they built a shrine somewhere. ^^;;

Yes exactly! In anime, an albino can have blue hair.

Seriously, I think it's almost always done the way it is because anime makers think it looks cool. Whatever is cool, is good.

7thMethuselah · 2004-06-26, 19:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Secca

I tought blue hair is more popular than blonde in anime. I don't know how many guys in the anime club I'm at, that worship Rei. I'm suspecting they built a shrine somewhere. ^^;;

Off course I worship rei as well, why you ask? She gorgeous and mysterious, very mysterious and that always attracts alot of people :-)

zzz · 2004-06-26, 20:03

Its true that not all westerners have to have blonde hair but the ones that do have the characteristic of being a active role in the story. I think its how the Japanese view the Americans as we do know that Asian tradition is strict and i guess in a way... quiet

i think the fact that how the anime character looks, which colors are used and the features of the face and body structure shows how we can identify where they come from.

Dhomochevsky · 2004-06-26, 21:07

As there are so many japanese anime-charas who doesnt look japanese at all, the only way to build in a western chara that would be rekognized immediatly is to make him blonde, right?

btw, as we`re on blonde hair topic:
I had very blonde hair when I was a child and now its dark brown!
Can you belive that!?

What happened to my hair, it was so beautiful when it was blonde. F**k my genes!

Am I the only one to suffer from such a tough fate?

Maybe not:
Naruto is still a kid, he will eventually end up with brown hair later in his life gnyharharhar! :fingers:

zzz · 2004-06-26, 21:20

^ in my opinion your better of with brown hair :fingers:

dirkformica · 2004-06-27, 01:13

Quick thought on the blonde hair in anime: It's probably an extension of all the other strange or unusual hair colors. Yellow is just as odd as blue or green or pink when everyone naturally has black or dark brown hair.

With regards to the DB universe, I always thought the whole Super Saiyan transformation was about giving into anger and de-evolution. Super Saiyan 4 is a monkey-man hybrid, and 3 is a cromagnon like form. If you start at a more or less human form and power up to those forms, then what's that say about the intermediate blonde-haired, green-eyed forms? Is there a statement about those traits being lesser evolved than their natural dark haired, dark eyed forms? Whether this plays into some subconscious comment on the west, I don't know. I'm sure there's a dissertation in there somewhere tied to the recurring themes of environmentalism and apocalyptic visions in anime as well.

Kyuven · 2004-06-27, 01:36

an example of...different western characters: Kaleido Star portrays most of the cast as western, yet only a few have blonde hair (blue eyes are a different story)
obviously if a show is based in a foreign country, it'd be too confusing (the very reason differing hair colors and styles exist in anime is character differentuation) to make everyone into the stereotype

RobertM · 2004-06-27, 03:23

OMG! Kyuven's and ZZZ's Avatars so close together is making my eyes go funny!

Melazoma · 2004-06-27, 03:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertM

OMG! Kyuven's and ZZZ's Avatars so close together is making my eyes go funny!

I'll give you another one so we only see the white of your eyes

Note the subtle differences and the obvious reason for the close-up

kj1980 · 2004-06-27, 03:52

hmm...this topic is just too interesting from me... From a casual Japanese anime viewer all I can say is:

"You guys actually think about this while watching anime?!"

No one gives a damn in Japan who is what hair colored and who is foreign born or not. For some-higher-being's-son's sake, why do you guys think too hard? It's just an anime folks!!

noir maou_sama · 2004-06-27, 13:11

I noticed it too. Foreigners who are american or european will often have blond hair and/or blue eyes. Usually the combination of both together tends to be that, but it's not set in stone. I usually look for a certain attitude. One thing I notice is the blond, blue-eyed women tend to be portrayed in a certain way. In general, they tend to have a certain accent(I've heard it many times, but can't recall at the moment every time I've heard it) and are more "open" than some of the other characters. They tend to mix english in with japanese here and there(I know other characters use phrases like "lucky" and such, but they do it very often). That makes sense as it's probably they're naturally language, but they seem very fleunt in japanese(aren't most people in an anime, lol) and don't seem to have the need for it. I don't think it has anything to do with history, but I wouldn't know about that. The next two samples are just a fun look at two examples...mostly becasue I'm bored ^_^;

girl in To Heart. I forgot her name, something with an l(orR). Lemmy/Remmy?
1. Blond hair, blue eyes
2. her voice has an accent
3. mixes in english words very often

Arcade Gamer Fubuki-the girl who is good at music/rythem games, Honey I think it was
1. Blond hair, blue eyes
2. mixes in english words very often
3. has an accent(though it's very similar to Remmy-possible same va in this example)
4. wears a cowboy hat, sometimes used but not as often to potray a foreigner; this one can be overlooked
5. quote: "Hugging is the american way of getting to know each other better"; had to put it there, just for the strangeness, lol. Just overlook it, as it pertains to this one character only.

Knuckles · 2004-06-27, 14:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj1980

hmm...this topic is just too interesting from me... From a casual Japanese anime viewer all I can say is:

"You guys actually think about this while watching anime?!"

No one gives a damn in Japan who is what hair colored and who is foreign born or not. For some-higher-being's-son's sake, why do you guys think too hard? It's just an anime folks!!

Ah, You are just envious of my blond hair and blue eyes.

But, then what about blue and grean haired characters in Anime,
what group of people do they represent ?
I think blond guys represent cool and handsome guys, right

NinjaServ · 2004-06-27, 14:56

Super Saiyans REALLY have GOLD hair (if you look at some of the pics), but they used yellow, plus the lighter the color, it seemed BRIGHTER, and power makes them BRIGHTER (plus the hair was ORIGINALLY black and SSJ was developed later, so there had to be SOME kind of transformation, the light color hair proved to look more powerful and "Shining"). But yea, it is TECHINCALLY supposed to be considered Gold.

Yogo_Pogo · 2004-06-27, 16:14

Blond haired girl are popular in occident, they are like the model of the perfect beautiful women. But i don't think that it's that important in anime. Take a character that got blond hair and change it to an other color and you will see that it doesn't match the character at all. It's a matter of color association and it's the author or creator that decide the color of hair. Color does have a symbolism too. In western anime bad people tends to have darker hair, in anime it's not like that. A blond girl like the virgin Marie is a symbol of purity, so if they want to show a pure girl in western anime they will choose a blond. In anime they don't seem to care about the realism of the hair color (and i don't have problem with that).
Maybe we should ask a japenese about the symbolism of certain color so we can understand why a type of anime character are blond.

tsuki_desu · 2004-06-27, 16:58

When I asked my japanese friend she said that if their characters always had black hair it would get boring. And that's all I kno!

Mugen · 2004-06-27, 17:19

...yes we are talking about anime wos-a-name

MikoKikyo · 2004-06-27, 17:50

-__- the fact that there are blond anime characters and that they have big round eyes does not necessarily mean they are supposed to look western.

It's true that there are many blond-haired significant anime characters but so are there those who are purple-haired, green-haired, blue-haired, as has been pointed out before here. Why should they choose such a diverse variety of colors and not include blonde?

As for the design of their eyes, I read somewhere that the eyes are drawn big that way in order to better show expression. This makes more sense than the idea that they're like in order to look western...

Dev Gun · 2004-06-27, 18:08

Maybe its the Nazis, Maybe its WWII,

Or Maybe, it's that 50% of japanese dye their hair.

and japanese people have Brown eyes, i dont know anybody with Black eyes (unless BAM! they got hit in the eye), its always really dark brown.

2004-06-26, 19:19	Link #21
RobertM Kobe, not Osaka... Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Toronto	Oh, and here's another one. On the ADV DVD of Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, switch back and forth between the dub and the sub on the previews. I challenge anyone to refute my claim that the Japanese VAs look more like anime characters than the American ones.

2004-06-26, 19:39	Link #22
Secca nya` Artist Join Date: Feb 2004	I tought blue hair is more popular than blonde in anime. I don't know how many guys in the anime club I'm at, that worship Rei. I'm suspecting they built a shrine somewhere. ^^;;

2004-06-26, 20:03	Link #25
zzz Hallo.. Join Date: Jun 2004	Its true that not all westerners have to have blonde hair but the ones that do have the characteristic of being a active role in the story. I think its how the Japanese view the Americans as we do know that Asian tradition is strict and i guess in a way... quiet i think the fact that how the anime character looks, which colors are used and the features of the face and body structure shows how we can identify where they come from.

2004-06-26, 21:07	Link #26
Dhomochevsky temporary safeguard Join Date: May 2004 Location: Germany	As there are so many japanese anime-charas who doesnt look japanese at all, the only way to build in a western chara that would be rekognized immediatly is to make him blonde, right? btw, as we`re on blonde hair topic: I had very blonde hair when I was a child and now its dark brown! Can you belive that!? What happened to my hair, it was so beautiful when it was blonde. F**k my genes! Am I the only one to suffer from such a tough fate? Maybe not: Naruto is still a kid, he will eventually end up with brown hair later in his life gnyharharhar! :fingers:

2004-06-26, 21:20	Link #27
zzz Hallo.. Join Date: Jun 2004	^ in my opinion your better of with brown hair :fingers:

2004-06-27, 01:13	Link #28
dirkformica Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004	Quick thought on the blonde hair in anime: It's probably an extension of all the other strange or unusual hair colors. Yellow is just as odd as blue or green or pink when everyone naturally has black or dark brown hair. With regards to the DB universe, I always thought the whole Super Saiyan transformation was about giving into anger and de-evolution. Super Saiyan 4 is a monkey-man hybrid, and 3 is a cromagnon like form. If you start at a more or less human form and power up to those forms, then what's that say about the intermediate blonde-haired, green-eyed forms? Is there a statement about those traits being lesser evolved than their natural dark haired, dark eyed forms? Whether this plays into some subconscious comment on the west, I don't know. I'm sure there's a dissertation in there somewhere tied to the recurring themes of environmentalism and apocalyptic visions in anime as well.

2004-06-27, 01:36	Link #29
Kyuven Bishoujo Goodness Galore! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stuck Between Reality and Fantasy	an example of...different western characters: Kaleido Star portrays most of the cast as western, yet only a few have blonde hair (blue eyes are a different story) obviously if a show is based in a foreign country, it'd be too confusing (the very reason differing hair colors and styles exist in anime is character differentuation) to make everyone into the stereotype

2004-06-27, 03:23	Link #30
RobertM Kobe, not Osaka... Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Toronto	OMG! Kyuven's and ZZZ's Avatars so close together is making my eyes go funny!

2004-06-27, 03:52	Link #32
kj1980 Gomen asobase desuwa! Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 43	hmm...this topic is just too interesting from me... From a casual Japanese anime viewer all I can say is: "You guys actually think about this while watching anime?!" No one gives a damn in Japan who is what hair colored and who is foreign born or not. For some-higher-being's-son's sake, why do you guys think too hard? It's just an anime folks!!

2004-06-27, 13:11	Link #33
noir maou_sama Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: in darkness	I noticed it too. Foreigners who are american or european will often have blond hair and/or blue eyes. Usually the combination of both together tends to be that, but it's not set in stone. I usually look for a certain attitude. One thing I notice is the blond, blue-eyed women tend to be portrayed in a certain way. In general, they tend to have a certain accent(I've heard it many times, but can't recall at the moment every time I've heard it) and are more "open" than some of the other characters. They tend to mix english in with japanese here and there(I know other characters use phrases like "lucky" and such, but they do it very often). That makes sense as it's probably they're naturally language, but they seem very fleunt in japanese(aren't most people in an anime, lol) and don't seem to have the need for it. I don't think it has anything to do with history, but I wouldn't know about that. The next two samples are just a fun look at two examples...mostly becasue I'm bored ^_^; girl in To Heart. I forgot her name, something with an l(orR). Lemmy/Remmy? 1. Blond hair, blue eyes 2. her voice has an accent 3. mixes in english words very often Arcade Gamer Fubuki-the girl who is good at music/rythem games, Honey I think it was 1. Blond hair, blue eyes 2. mixes in english words very often 3. has an accent(though it's very similar to Remmy-possible same va in this example) 4. wears a cowboy hat, sometimes used but not as often to potray a foreigner; this one can be overlooked 5. quote: "Hugging is the american way of getting to know each other better"; had to put it there, just for the strangeness, lol. Just overlook it, as it pertains to this one character only.

2004-06-27, 14:56	Link #35
NinjaServ Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 40	Super Saiyans REALLY have GOLD hair (if you look at some of the pics), but they used yellow, plus the lighter the color, it seemed BRIGHTER, and power makes them BRIGHTER (plus the hair was ORIGINALLY black and SSJ was developed later, so there had to be SOME kind of transformation, the light color hair proved to look more powerful and "Shining"). But yea, it is TECHINCALLY supposed to be considered Gold.

2004-06-27, 16:14	Link #36
Yogo_Pogo A laughing demonic Skull Join Date: Apr 2004	Blond haired girl are popular in occident, they are like the model of the perfect beautiful women. But i don't think that it's that important in anime. Take a character that got blond hair and change it to an other color and you will see that it doesn't match the character at all. It's a matter of color association and it's the author or creator that decide the color of hair. Color does have a symbolism too. In western anime bad people tends to have darker hair, in anime it's not like that. A blond girl like the virgin Marie is a symbol of purity, so if they want to show a pure girl in western anime they will choose a blond. In anime they don't seem to care about the realism of the hair color (and i don't have problem with that). Maybe we should ask a japenese about the symbolism of certain color so we can understand why a type of anime character are blond.

2004-06-27, 16:58	Link #37
tsuki_desu Hidden in the darkness... Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Anywhere but here... Age: 35	When I asked my japanese friend she said that if their characters always had black hair it would get boring. And that's all I kno!

2004-06-27, 17:19	Link #38
Mugen Tha slick Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Yokohama	...yes we are talking about anime wos-a-name

2004-06-27, 17:50	Link #39
MikoKikyo * Join Date: Mar 2004 Age: 37	-__- the fact that there are blond anime characters and that they have big round eyes does not necessarily mean they are supposed to look western. It's true that there are many blond-haired significant anime characters but so are there those who are purple-haired, green-haired, blue-haired, as has been pointed out before here. Why should they choose such a diverse variety of colors and not include blonde? As for the design of their eyes, I read somewhere that the eyes are drawn big that way in order to better show expression. This makes more sense than the idea that they're like in order to look western...

2004-06-27, 18:08	Link #40
Dev Gun The Yokohama Killer! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: California, Central Age: 37	Maybe its the Nazis, Maybe its WWII, Or Maybe, it's that 50% of japanese dye their hair. and japanese people have Brown eyes, i dont know anybody with Black eyes (unless BAM! they got hit in the eye), its always really dark brown.