Not really a rant, but just a question. Does anyone else wonder why videogame characters that are definitely Asian have white skin?

Lets take a look at this example. Asuka Kazama. You can tell by her name that she's Japanese. She's lived in Osaka her entire life, and speaks Japanese.

But look at this.



Shes as white as a ghost! Or at least the whitest character on the game.

Why is that? Is it so western gamers can connect with the characters more? Your thoughts.

Well, if it helps you any, I'm Asian and my skin is incredibly white. o.o

Japanese people in general are relatively light-skinned, btw. Usually tanned Asians are Filipinos and Malaysians and such.

Thats true, but even the Chinese characters look really un-Asian.

The same can be said for anime. Take a look at DBZ. Most of the characters, even with the Japanese/Chinese names, are whiter than the ones that are actually intended to be white. Especially Gohan. (Seriously. Its like he was never allowed outside.)

Its not really a problem. It just confuses me. I figured it make for an interesting discussion too!

Well, I'm not really sure how having light skin is "un-Asian" when it comes to personal experience, quite honestly. And since you're talking about Japanese people, tan is definitely not the norm unless they work out in the fields everyday (and obviously there's more businessmen than farmers in Japan).

I think you might be exaggerating the lightness of Asuka and Gohan's skin, though. Ya, they're light-skinned, but I don't think they're so light-skinned that it's ghastly. Also, to re-emphasis my point about Japanese people with light skin being more common than you think (in fact, that's the majority of Japanese people), here's some examples:

By "actually intended to be white", I assume you mean Caucasian people? This might be the reason you're so confused. You seem to be under the impression that terms like "white", "black", or "brown" and so forth really have any baring on the actual pigmentation of a person's skin, when in fact it really doesn't. I can discuss the true nature of such labels (or at least their origin), but I'm not entirely sure I should... it could get a little too controversial (this topic alone is already a tiny bit so). I'll just leave it at this: What you call "white" people aren't the only people with light skin and, yes, there are many individuals of other "races" that might be lighter in skin than the average Caucasian.

Did I ever mention I hate dividing people into "races"? I mean, you know... it is the human race, afterall. A race, in the true definition of the word, is a species. But, ya, I probably shouldn't go into that...

ANYWHO... as for any other reason you might think that an anime character doesn't look Asian if in fact they are, it's more of the fact that you come from a heterogeneous culture run mostly by Caucasians (which is what the United States is). While on the other hand, Japan has a homogeneous culture with about less than 10% of the country being anything other than Asian.

Since we have so many "minorities" (that's another term I hate, but I'll use it for lack of a better one) here in the United States, and since Caucasians are thought of as the "default", so to speak, we tend to have a mindset of Caucasians as being a blank slate while anybody else we have to think of certain features in order to identify them as being something other than Caucasian.

In Japan, since pretty much everybody's Asian, then that becomes the "default". Everyone thinks of Asians as the blank slate. So... when in Japan someone draws a cartoon character, guess what? That character is just a person! No exaggerated features or anything, just... a person! In Japan, this "blank slate" or "default" person will automatically be assumed to be Asian. But in the U.S.A., that same character will be looked at as Caucasian. Why? Because of the mindset of the people, that's why!

Also, believe it or not, when a Japanese cartoonist is trying to actually make somebody actually be Caucasian, they usually do have a difference in the way they look as opposed to different characters. You might not notice it, though, but in Japan they do. This isn't always the case, but it is usually (especially if it's for comedic purposes). So, often times, an anime character that really is Caucasian will be one with a very long, triangular shaped pointy nose; small, greyish-blue pupils; and bleached, whitish-blonde hair. That much can be said about either sex, but more specifically if the anime character is a Caucasian male, then he might also have a very defined cleft, as well.

As for anime characters that are Japanese but have hair colors like blonde or red instead of black or brown... well, let's also take into account hair colors like green, purple, or blue. No real person of ANY culture has any of those as a natural hair color! Anime characters have so many different hair colors as a way to distinguish them, as quite often they might have very similar looking faces.

And before anyone points out the Japanese looking Goku (dark eyes, black hair) turning into something a little more Caucasian looking when going Super Saiyan (green eyes, blonde hair), it's not what you think. Akira Toriyama is NOT a closet Nazi or anything. He's just lazy... and he admits it. Super Saiyans are easier to draw because he doesn't have to keep inking in the eyes and hair. That's why they look the way they do.

Anywho, that's all I have to say on the subject at hand, for now. I won't lie, I am a little bit wary of what direction this topic could go in, but for now, I suppose this topic is still acceptable. :mellow:

I don't really think about that, and I don't really think of it as being strange, either. That's all about different perspectives, I'd guess (which kinda goes along with CPoC's big post said, as well).

I have wondered about that. More precisely, why does the color used to colorize anime peeps frequently match the color used to colorize non-anime peeps? Er, in other words: that small range of skin tones one could call "white" seems to be the "default" color for animated peoples' skins on both sides of the Pacific.

The skin tones of the people the animated colors are intended to represent do not match as precisely as the animated colors do. I think that's where Avenger and I's feeling of "hm, this is kinda odd" stems from.


...


So what the heck, COLORS??? This is all cyan's fault.

Meh. Every person, regardless of ethnicity, is just a shade of a pinkish-orange like color. This color, depending on its shade, has quite a range as it can appear anywhere from light peach to dark brown. But it's still the same color... just a different shade of that color.

I know this because I'm an artist and I use Photoshop a lot. XD

I see your point, and stand corrected!

And yeah, theres only one true "race" in my eyes, and thats the human one.


............And the Daytona 500. :D

For a moment there I thought you were gonna say "and the Saiyan race". XD

I wanted to, just for kicks, but I decided against it.

If only someone would put a DBZ related car into the Daytona 500...

*looks at DA gallery*

Nevermind. That didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.

That would be alsome to see DBZ Daytona car If you find a picture put it on this forum.