foreigner stereotypes in anime
 

Which non-japanese characters were depicted as stereotypes and not stereotypes?

I have noticed that many Chinese anime characters such as Li Syaoran, Revy (Black Lagoon), Hei/Li Shengshen (Darker Than Black), Lee Bailong (Shaman King), Li Kohran (Sakura Wars) and the main character cast of Cooking Master Boy were portrayed positively. However, some personality traits that many Chinese characters such as Syaoran, Hei, Bailong, Tao Ren (Shaman King) and Revy have in common was that they are angry, aloof and bitter individuals with a chip-on-the-shoulder atttude.

In the anime Cooking Master boy, Chinese people, usually in crowds, all look alike/the same, aside from the major characters, who however can easily be distinguished.

Why are almost all half-Japanese/half-Western characters blondes? In reality they have black hair.

Tamaki Suou (half-French, half-Japanese) from Ouran Host Club
Rebecca Miyamoto (half-Japanese, half-American) from Pani Poni Dash!
Momiji Sohma (half-German, half-Japanese) from Fruits Basket
Elise Housen (half-French, half-Japanese) from Canvas 2
Eri Sawachika (half-British, half-Japanese) from School Rumble
Maria Tachibana (half-Russian, half-Japanese) from Sakura Taisen
Heindrick and Elizabeth K. Strawberryfield (half-English, half-Japanese) from Kamen no Maid Guy
Niina Isokawa (half-American, half-Japanese) from Tona-gura
Sophie Balzac Kirisaki (half-French, half-Japanese) from Yakitate Japan
Meister Silvan Kirisaki (half-French, half-Japanese) from Yakitate Japan

Kouji Jefferson Sakai (half-Swedish, half-Japanese) from Hungry Heart~ Wild Striker has silvery-blonde hair.

Orihime Soletta (half-Italian, half-Japanese) from Sakura Taisen 2 and Yuki (half-Greek, half-Japanese) from the manga Love for Venus have black hair, not blond hair. But then again Italians and Greeks, being mediterranean, generally do not have blonde hair.

I have taken a look at the American characters.

The American main characters David, Lewis and Julia in Blood+ are depicted positively. But the U.S. government officials in Blood+ were characterized as duplicitous, manipulative and deceitful as snakes.

Many people say that Americans in anime are stereotypified as lewd, loud-mouthed, nosy, rude, boorish, obnoxious and inconsiderate. Roy Focker (Macross), Monica Adenauer (Yakitate Japan), Sarah McDougal (Love Hina) and Tina Foster (Ai Yori Aoshi) are typical examples of that stereotype. Another classic example of "loud and rude foreigner" stereotype is Kaere Kimura (Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei).

I read that Black characters were portrayed as stereotypes in anime. But when I saw Rodrigo (Afro-Brazilian) on Hungry Heart~ Wild Striker, he didn't look like stereotypical but rather a real person with fairly rich character depth.

The English/Britons such as Eri Sawachika, Heindrick Strawberryfield, Elizabeth Strawberryfield, and the full-blooded British guy from Gatekeepers are depicted as arrogant, snobby and acting high-class. Mayu Miyuki (Ai Yori Aoshi) may be full Japanese but grew up in England, so she acted the english stereotype of an arrogant and vain snob on a high horse.

As for the characterization of French people in anime, every French character (Iris, Glycine, Erica, Lobelia, Mer Raison, Ci Caprice, etc) in Sakura Taisen has their own distinct personality traits and do not share the same behavioural traits.

What's more interesting is that all half-Japanese, half-French children such as Suou Tamaki, Sophie Balzac Kirisaki, Meister Silvan Kirisaki, Elise Housen, Christine Hanakomachi have French mothers and Japanese fathers. Hanabi Kitaoji's grandmother is a Frenchwoman.

Simple answer: it makes them look foreign. Japanese people have to stare at brown/black hair all day long already, I assume they like to make foreign characters LOOK foreign by giving them blonde hair instead, even though brown and black are hugely prevailant as well.

Any foreigner in anime seems to be tarred with that same brush actually, as you've already noted, and I'll include my favourite IchiMaro girl Ana as well :) I don't mind though, I like blonde girls ;)

edit: one anime I love that has a British (full British that is) character who isn't a snobby idiot is Stratos 4. Commander Reynolds is a real Gentleman of the WW2 era (ok so WW2 is 100+ years in the past in that anime but it's the best way I can describe him).

I actually start to hate this kind of stereotyping. In most animes, the stereotyped blonde characters are the most annoying characters. And it's start to being boring, too.

What is strange because the real Dracula was romanian, in transylvania when it was part of Hungary, and the famous vampirella, Elizabeth Bathory was actually a hungarian. She lived in the same city where my father comes from (Nyírbátor). It maybe had something to do with that fact, that I somehow like the taste of blood...


True. And actually Alice-chan from Aria is a half-example: Yeah she's not british, but her name: Alice Carroll. Carroll is from Lewis Carroll's name, who wrote Alice in Wonderland... And, actually she IS in wonderland. :heh:

British people in American media are often portrayed as snobby and arrogant as well.

There was the Chinese girl Myao from Kazemakase: Tsukikage Ran. Rather than grouchy and aloof, she was endlessly energetic, outgoing, impulsive, and rather dimwitted. She had no accent (that I could hear) and her face/hair was drawn a lot like the Japanese characters, save for the long braid. Her clothing was very obviously Chinese though.

Patricia Martin from Lucky*Star, which is a show that focuses on otaku culture, is representative of a stereotypical American fangirl. She's strawberry blonde and blue-eyed, learned the Japanese language from anime and j-pop, and thinks that all of Japan's most important cultural and historical aspects revolve around anime and manga - that those things are basically what Japan is all about. If someone tries to tell her otherwise, she gets confused. She's also extremely bubbly and a little inconsiderate, as you described. As much as this could seem insulting to an American like me, since they are (playfully) jabbing at us, I can't help but see some truth to her stereotype in a lot of fangirls I've come across.

Now, how about black/african american people at the rare times they're portrayed in anime? Has anyone noticed a stereotype for them?

Military stereotypes. The U.S. Navy commander in Full Metal Panic made me groan with his, "We'll retaliate for the humiliation that our fellow soldiers felt! Remember Pearl Harbor!"

Absurd.

That one did bother me....mainly because it is suppose to be 2001 or so...That Navy Commander wasn't even born when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941.

I think the only people who might hold onto that kind of bitter resentment are a few remaining Pearl Harbor survivors. Any naval officer who held that kind of attitude wouldn't be fit for command.

Of course we don't know exactly what sort of international relations (history) happens in Full Metal Panic either. Japan seems to be the fairly normal post-WWII Japan with American style military hardware in a Self Defense Force, while the United States is one of the main Naval powers of the world. Still a Cold War on.

The only resentment to the Japanese (if that was the reference) would be those who were alive during the Second World War, or those born just afterward to those that lost a lot of loved ones to the Japanese. That particular sub commander could not be 60 year old. He looks to be in his 40s (normal Commander age I assume), so he has no memory of Pearl Harbor in a anti-Japanese slant anyway.

They are chasing the "Toy Box", which is not a Japanese vessel. (Aren't all the "Toy Box's" readouts in English? With a British first officer and an American Captain?) The "Remember Pearl Harbor" line could be like "Remember the Alamo" for Texans, but it just doesn't fit too well. Unless they quailfy the "Toy Box" as a sneak attack weapon (which any sub is really), and even then it doesn't make a who lot of sense.

Considering the nature of Mithril...I'm expecting they are "actually" speaking English on ship.

I like when they try to have the Americans speaking Japanese and they get some Japanese voice actor/actress to seriously mangle their Japanese to sound "foreign". I wonder, do all Americans that are fluent in Japanese really sound that bad? They don't seem to do that to other English-speaking nationals... :)

In the few series I've watched, I haven't noticed too many racial stereotypes with blacks, hispanic, white, etc... It seems to be more stereotypes based on nationality. I've noticed that Americans are portrayed fairly poorly as deceitful or manipulative, inconsiderate and crude, or at the best as hotheaded and impetuous (SEARSS in Mai Hime, Asuka in NGE, Kathy in RahXephon, the sailors in the Kenshin movie that were itching to start a fight, the sailors in the baseball episode of Samurai Champloo... although that episode was hilarious).

BTW, I didn't know Roy Fokker was supposed to be American, either, heh. He was a bit hotheaded, true, but still an AWESOME character, esp in the Robotech series.

Ciao!

Moegaku5 (featuring Hirano Aya, oddly enough) is pretty much a showcase for foreigner stereotypes in anime format.

Also, every non-Asian foreigner in anime is rich (Sawachika Eri, Suou Tamaki, etc). They all live at drive-in mansions and are ferried around by chauffeurs. Apparently they don't know that Japanese people are on average, just about the richest on the planet.

Sounds like you guys are spinning all westerners the bad way.

Like Sawachika Eri, she is not acting that way because she is half british. She is acting that way because she is a tundere type character.

On the other hand, Tina Foster to me come across as a typical straight forward, live for the moment, speaks her mind and very nice type of person. You will rarely find anyone like that in Asia, but you will find a lot of american like that.

Not all. As I mentioned, Tessa Testarossa is an American and her first officer is British.

To be fair, Revy is not portrayed whatsoever as a Chinese stereotype.
She's cast as a "violent and unstable ruffian who grew up in worst ghetto streets of America" stereotype. Despite her racial makeup, she's isn't considered anything but an American both by herself and the readers. Her stereotype is completely that of an American. Specifically, ghetto-raised criminal one with abusive past.

Well, more and more foreigners in Japan are speaking extremely fluent in Japanese media, so it may gradually change.

For example, Dave Spector is on Japanese TV all the time, speaking extremely fluent Japanese at the native level.
Here's Dave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlTKUkYBuo

And here's Jero, a cool brother who can sing ENKA of all things, with perfect Japanese. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtgJ5TJi8M

"Sushi and Bratwurst" - A Real Life Half-Japanese, Half-German Blonde
 

Maybe Japanese character designers in general visualize anime female characters who are of half Japanese and half Northern European extraction looking like real life American former Playboy centerfold, model and actress Teri Harrison.

Teri Harrison - model/actress


Playmate Pictures - Teri Harrison - Teri Harrison Pics (NSFW Link)

But his granddad was! :rolleyes:

half the people on the fmp submarine weren't even japanese. WTF!!!
Code Geass failed when they said Britannia and on the map it pointed to America. EPIC PHAIL!!!

Also, it pisses me off that jap anime directors can't find who can speak decent English in anime for foreigners. Only anime that had perfect English accent was Macross:Do you remember love

Um....

In Code Geass's alternate reality, the Empire of Britannia rules over the American continent. The war over independence of America failed.
It's not a failed stereotype, that's the STORYLINE behind its world settings....

What, you didn't REALLY think Code Geass world wasn't an alternate reality now... did you? :uhoh:

No, to be relative to the thread, you're supposed to mock Code Geass of its rediculous stereotype of European nobility, not its alternate history.

Yes, my Lord. :heh:

Ok, just to make an arguement, the show talks about Lelouch making a treaty with the US. Also, omg the stereotypes. They just blasted to your face that white people got rights and you don't. Also, it dissed America with the free treaty zone. They basically said all the japanese living in the zone where equal to the Britannians but the Britannians still conquered them. If you really want to be equal, then give them back their dam land. Also, they stereotyped China by symbolizing comunism

You need to rewatch the anime, hopefully withtout some terrible fansub translations from god-knows-where. :D

There is no United States of America. Lulu never made treaty with a non-existing nation.
There is a United States of Japan, proposed by Zero, as well as Ultimate United Nations, but no USA.

I don't understand the rest of your scribbling, it doesn't seem to be related to anything we were discussing. :rolleyes: If you just want to jot down general criticisms of the anime, take it to where it belongs, in the appropriate thread. Stay in topic in this thread.

I stayed on topic with my stereotypes

Another example to the hot headed, crude and lewd foreign stereotype:
Striesmann (sic) from Nodame Cantabile.

---------

And I think FMP people speak English. if they don't.. plot inconsistencies! But there already IS one... does everyone speak English, but Japanese to select people?... ETC

I had a very strong urge to shoot Patty the American full of holes, GTA San Andreas style (very American, ha!), when she showed up in Lucky Star.

We American anime fans are not that idiotic! -- well, some of us, err, me at least... okay I give up. She might be a decent approximation of the average weeaboo after all...

Gustav Stresemann is rolling in his grave. :heh:

Well, he already rolled in it over and over since 1933, but you know.

But really now, I don't think the Maestro in everyone's favorite musical romantic comedy is that bad. There are many more Japanese "geezer" characters who act the same way: lewd and silly, but serious and wise when the occasion called for. His German nationality and name seems to be there so he would seem like a true Maestro, which is, of course, something of a stereotype by itself, but hardly a bad one.

Yes, t'is like that, although the actual story of Dracula was set in England, therefore that is just the country in which people think of when "Dracula" is mentioned, even though he is Romanian.

Then in "Kiddy Grade" we have Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Another way of making references to Lewis Carrolls novel. Not to mention "Miyuki-chan in Wonderland".

I also love the way that they made the US president on "Read or Die". They based him on George Bush and made him want to just demolish everything that was his enemy, although when he was confronted by them he just wet himself. I thought that was great. Then we also had 'The Joker' whom was based on a stereotypical Englishman and even had a Golden Gun at the end of the series (reference to James Bond). I loved "Read or Die", the story and the way that they portrayed English people was awesome for our stereotype or being noble, powerful and smart.

Anyone ever watched Shin Getter vs Neo Getter? I suppose it has be the most extreme example of American stereotype by Japanese, especially the Engrish :D.

I think most Japanese in Hollywood movies and American TV dramas are weird as well...

LOL, Oh man, black stereotypes are definitely one of the worst stereotypes out there. We were originally these super black skin. ( I don't mean dark brown, I meant black as charcoal) with big eyes, even bigger round nose, and biggest lips since the clown ages. Fortunately, lately things have been changing regarding appearance but it still happens.

Unfortunately, the personality stereotypes still live on, that we are these rapping dudes that can dance to the moon, and always have these hoof jive like we are from the 70's still.

To notice the latest in black steretypes, just check out the latest chapters of Naruto, the last place I expected it. The cat looks like a straight rip off of westley snipes and raven from Tekken. But what's bad is that the mofo raps almost throughout the entire scene's he's in. Let's just say quite a few people were unhappy about that. That was the last Naruto chapter I was going to read that's for sure. I get enough stereotypes about black people from American Television, I don't need to go through anymore from overseas.

I'm guessing nobody reading this thread has watched Neuro or someone would of brought up David Rice.
He's blond, blue eyed, big nosed, tall. He has an American flag on his jacket and he wears blue jeans. He even has good random english since he was voiced by an American english teacher.

Of course this is all before he takes on his monster form which is mearly him with an even longer nose. In this form he randomly sings Star Spangled Banner, rants how American people are better than non-Americans (Because Americans only eat hamburgers and BBQ, only wear jeans and take drugs to cheat at baseball) and maintains that non-Americans not giving up there resources and hurting there pride is grounds for killing them. He then pulls a gun from his pants because he was insulted that someone would insinuate he would use a knife instead of a gun and proceeds to rant about how great guns are.

Speaking of Communism, Russia is frequently portrayed as the Soviet in 21st century. However, Russian characters in Anime are not antagonists. They are generally courteous and courageous.

It is interesting. In real world, Japanese and Russian governments are always disputing with each other.

Are you including Black Lagoon's Balalaika in this category? She does display courtesy (often before shooting someone in the head), and she was certainly courageous while leading her forces in Afghanistan, but she's hardly a nice person by any stretch of the imagination.

I didn't know there was a stereotype in which Germans (or Austrians?) are lazy womanizers. Now, if he was an Italian (for instance Paolo from Friends), I might agree that it was beaten to death offensive stereotype. And anyway, the series is full with all kinds Japanese weirdoes too. :)

As far as most anime series is concerned, there is no Korean on face of Earth. You can get multitudes of foreigners on the series, yet despite being the most numerous minority in Japan, Koreans almost never makes any entrance.

There were a few Korean bridge bunnies I think, but I can only remember Hyo-Jin Yun from Super Robot Wars, or its anime Divine Wars.

I'd like to point out 'Chinatans' though. Why are they always so hot lol, can anyone point out one chinese lady that isn't pretty?

You see: Wang Liu Mei, Gin Rei, Li Mei Ling, Rio Meilong, Lin Minmei, Chun Li, Kuraudoberi Jam etc.

I forgot it. I'll make the excuse, saying that BL is full with villains of various nationalities, not only Russia.

I have heard the detailed explanation why there are very few Korean characters in Anime. In short, Japanese are afraid of protest by Korean themselves.

"Hikaru no Go" is probably the most famous anime series in which Koreans appear. In this series, however, they were portrayed as antagonists, though they had some honesty. And then some Korean people living in Japan violently protested this anime. So every Japanese writer or creater were shocked and began to refrain from portraying Korean characters as not only antagonists but also protagonists and such. That is why Koreans are excluded from Anime world. Currently, it is taboo to get Korean characters to appear in anime or manga as well as Japanese Emperor.

In defence of Koreans, I say that many Korean people are not so irritable and they did tolerate Korean portrayal of "Hikaru no Go".

:twitch:
seriously? Wow... It would be better not to include any black characters at all. That's how I feel about the females, too, better to have only one or two female ninjas who are decent than have 4 or 5 who only get in the way, drag everyone down, and have terrible personalities...
(Also, anime characters are quite uniform when it comes to skin color, which is interesting considering how generously diverse they are in terms of hair color.)

I didn't realize anime shows had the power to trigger mild political unrest... On an unrelated side note, Hikaru no Go has got to be one of the most underhyped anime series I've watched.

At least most foreigners get some kind of sophisticated portrayal or some kind of complicated mindset. Mexicans in anime are portrayed as some kind of pseudo gorila's that speak like hitting, live to fight and are on the lower spectrum of the IQ. eg Lala from School Rumble and Chad from Bleach. I think the only decent portrayal (and even then it was just from an american latino) was Dr. Rodriguez from Kyou Kara Maoh!

Mexico is a desert and there are cactus everywhere. And it looks like some bad old western American flick. Eg. El cazador de la bruja.

... then again I think that's the stereotype we get worldwide so maybe it's just not a Japanese thing :heh:

Umm .... Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 anyone? I dunno if she portrayed a certain Chinese stereotype, but she was cute and kicked ass. So it's all good to me.

[QUOTE=MikoKikyo;1890710]:twitch:
seriously? Wow... It would be better not to include any black characters at all. That's how I feel about the females, too, better to have only one or two female ninjas who are decent than have 4 or 5 who only get in the way, drag everyone down, and have terrible personalities...
(Also, anime characters are quite uniform when it comes to skin color, which is interesting considering how generously diverse they are in terms of hair color.)


I didn't realize anime shows had the power to trigger mild political unrest... On an unrelated side note, Hikaru no Go has got to be one of the most underhyped anime series I've watched.[/QUOTE]

Speaking of politics .... in the Philippines Voltes V was one of the Japanese animated shows banned by President Ferdinand Marcos in the late 70's, with the excuse that it bred violent tendencies in children. This same generation eventually grew up to overthrow his decades-long regime in the mid-80's.

Exactly my point. The worst thing is that they performed an exact copy of my favorite black character from Japan, which is Raven. While true, Raven is heavily based off of blade, the guy's a freakin ninja's. How many animes/games/manga's have a black person as a bad a$$, silent destroyer, super ninja. I was telling everyone itagaki needed to take some lessons. Kishi literally ripped completely off of raven, someone did a side by side photo of each character and I'm like...what's the difference, oh that's right, killer bee has cornrolls * Facepalm* What's even worse is the guy was a fodder.

I completely agree that I also would rather not see a black person at all than see one that's a mockery like killer bee.

Oh and anime shows definitely don't just spark minor problems from overseas. I'm not sure if anyone heard about this yet, but the writers from jo jo adventurers "accidentally" used the Koran as a terrorist book. Little Japan was attacked by like 5 nations lol. It was even in the Japanese news. The government had to give out an official apology and ordered all anime/manga/game companies to perform extensive research BEFORE using foreign people and items. But it looks like good ole Kishi didn't listen when he created the character Killer Bee.