Why can't Asian characters look Asian?

[UnseenWombat]

From the Natsu discussion thread:

It's not just in SC, it's pervades all Japanese anime and games.

This is the vid someone used to try to convince me that it wasn't the case, but I still don't buy it. Everyone with a lick of sense knows what an asian person looks like. They also know that what we see in video games, anime, and manga isn't it. That video actually contradicts itself when they show Ryu and the actor he's based upon side by side. Yeah, Ryu sorta resembles him, but a very, very European version of him.

It just annoys the hell out of me. Asians' distinctive features can be beautiful, but they're always washed out in favor of the western look. I think it has to do with asians' almost-deification of the western standard of beauty. Or, they just don't like themselves very much.

In case anyone wonders what I mean by asian features (as if we didn't know) specifically they are:
Broader skull, broader face, flat roof of the nose, inner eye fold, more protuberant eyes, lack of brow ridges, greater delicacy of bones, shallow mandibular fossa, small mastoid processes, stocky build, persistence of thymus gland into adult life, persistence of juvenile form of zygomatic muscle, persistence of juvenile form of superior lip muscle, less hairy, fewer sweat glands, fewer hairs per square centimeter [and] long torso.

The most important of those, IMO are the ones relating to the eyes. 95% of the problem would be righted if they would just get the eyes right.

Comments, questions, jokes?

 

[Ghengis_John]

Well as Naruto proved, putting a demon in somebody turns their hair blonde. I'm sorry wombat, that's just the way it works. Believe it!

 

[UnseenWombat]

Oh, so that explains it. LOL. Guess I should watch more anime.

Does it also change their features from asian to western? If so, my whole point, regarding Natsu at least, is irrelevant.

 

[K0rN_b4LL]

I've noticed that the Japanese tend to be either racially or nationally biast when it comes to these things. For actual Japanese characters the women all have huge chests and everyone has big round eyes. But if there is a Chinese character they almost always have tiny slender bodies and narrow eyes.

 

[ArcticKomodo]

Why do the males and females in hentai have pink nipples when in real Japanese porn they're brown? :o

 

[Kidvicious_707]

Why do the males and females in hentai have pink nipples when in real Japanese porn they're brown? :o

Well for one thing, Hentai is a cartoon and Japanese Porn consists of real people.

 

[Juez]

We really doing this?

 

[sheppard]

I really don't understand why they make asian characters look like europians or americans. When I was a kid, I thought they couldn't make asian appearance so they make it look like eastern :D

Anyway I think asian characters should look like this :

Yakuza on PS3, i played only one of the ps2 titles but I think Yakuza has the best realistic-looking Japanese characters.

 

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

We really doing this?

That's exactly what I thought. I don't really see a point in this discussion, especially since it's been beaten to death.

 

[LP]

Because then all of the characters would look the same! Ba-dum cha!

LP giving you your daily dosage of racism!

 

[CrazyYoshimitsu]

Liu kang looks Asian so does Kung Lao.

 

[Fatal_Exodus]

Because Daishi_CALIBUR doesn't know to take pointers from Harada_TEKKEN.

 

[spongebob]

We really doing this?

 

[KingAce]

That's what anime is.
Blonde hair looks hideous on real Japs.

 

[UnseenWombat]

We really doing this?

What, bitching about my thread? Of course, it wouldn't be a wombat thread unless someone did.

Protip: if you don't like the topic of discussion, feel free to not discuss it. ;)

 

[ArcticKomodo]

Well for one thing, Hentai is a cartoon and Japanese Porn consists of real people.

Pink nips are of Caucasians.

 

[ArcticKomodo]

Yakuza on PS3, i played only one of the ps2 titles but I think Yakuza has the best realistic-looking Japanese characters.

WRONG! FF has the most realistic Japanese characters.

 

[speedking1254]

We really doing this?

yes yes sir we are

 

[WuHT]

komodo:
you don't know what you are talking about:

real-looking person doesn't imply graphic quality, it implies that the person can look like someone you see in a street, not some FF anime looking character that would freak you out if you saw them lining up behind you to buy coffee.

---

On this general topic, I've always seen asian-white mixed people to look white to me. Hypodescent kicks in as the ruling train of thought

 

[FleshMasher]

As a german i see europeans most of the day so people that look different are a welcome change.
They see Japanese people everyday so maybe europeans are more interesting for them?
For variety?

I also think Natsu's face doesn't look very western.
I blame the general "beauty ideal" as promoted by TV, models etc. for her unusual slim build and Taki's Zeppelins.