Anime It's all in the eyes

[Ellerby]

[color=royalblue]
First a simple fact. Asians.. (or paticularly what I'm going to talk about in this thread) The Japanese' eyes are usually 'smaller' then let's say a North American Eye. By that I mean that their eyes are very small compared to any north american.

So remembering that simple fact I get to the point of this thread.
Anime and sometimes even Manga have huge eyes. Now we all know that Anime was invented by the Japanese (As far as I'm concerned). So why in the world did they make Anime eyes so big compared to their own eyes?

This has boggled my mind for a long time now. Sure there are the rare occasions where anime characters like Brock from Pokemon do [i]not[/i] have the large eyes but still.

Now when I say "huge eyes" I don't mean ginormous. I just mean.. well you know. I think in paticular, alot of girl anime characters have bigger eyes. So now you see why I'm confused.

What do [i]you[/i] have to say about this?[/color]

[Dagger]

My mother was born and raised in Korea. Although she didn't watch anime, she and her friends used to doodle anime-style characters in their notebooks at school (just as I do now, interestingly enough). I'm not sure how much this helps, but a lot of the people that they drew were [i]supposed[/i] to appear Caucasian. When anime first came into its own, it was heavily influenced by Western animation (for example, the old Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White). It makes sense, therefore, that some anime characters don't look "Japanese."

Bear in mind that most anime eyes don't fall within the realm of physical possibility--in other words, they wouldn't seem right in real life, regardless of whether the person who possessed them was Asian or European. Also, numerous characters have unnaturally colored hair, and I can't think of a single series that bothers to explain why. Shuuichi (from Gravitation) has pink hair, but he's supposed to be Japanese.

By now, I think that the size of a character's eyes has come to indicate something about his or her personality. Girls and young children tend to have larger eyes, while villains tend to have very small eyes.

~Dagger~

[Ellerby]

[color=royalblue]
Yes.. this is true. I guess you're right about that. I never really realized everything about them that way... like the funny faces they make and sweat drops (I don't think they'd be that big). ^^' Even so I'd [i]still[/i] like to hear other members' opinions.[/color]

[Xai]

[color=silver]I love anime eyes. ^^ They're so expressive. One of the reasons I like anime so much is because of its style(The eyes, oddly colored hair, and whatnot..)[/color]

[ShortySilly16]

I love the swirlly eyes and when the caracters fall down when someone says something stupid ^_^*

[Flashlight]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dagger IX1 [/i]
[B]My mother was born and raised in Korea. Although she didn't watch anime, she and her friends used to doodle anime-style characters in their notebooks at school (just as I do now, interestingly enough). I'm not sure how much this helps, but a lot of the people that they drew were [i]supposed[/i] to appear Caucasian. When anime first came into its own, it was heavily influenced by Western animation (for example, the old Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White). It makes sense, therefore, that some anime characters don't look "Japanese."
[/B][/QUOTE]

I remember reading something like that in a book a while ago.

Also, another reason why anime eyes (Particulaly in girls) are so big is so they can be more expressive. When I began learning to draw anime, a lot of tutorial said the most of the expression comes from the eyes, and so the bigger they are, they easier it is for the artists to convey emotions through them.
Girls tend to be most expressive, so their eyes are drawn largest. Males eyes are smaller, as males don't express themselves as often (Concerning facial expressions).
In children eyes are almost always big, regardless of gender, as children always show every emotion they are feeling (Well, not always, but most of the time). This is another reason why chibi or SD characters have big eyes, they convey all sorts of emotions through their eyes. For example, when they cry they usually look like a fountain spurting water.
Bad guys have the smallest eyes, as they are supposed to be you typical cold, emotionless, evil doers.

These guidlines can all be played around with by the artists, so nothing I said above will go for every anime, artists are bound to do something which could throw me theory out the window, but in general this is how it goes. :)

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=darkblue]A big reason for the eyes being like that is because the Japanese like to take a lot from western culture. So, hence the reason for strange hair color, big eyes and so forth. Another big reason would, yes, be for expression. Those take the biggest part in the reason for the way they look.
Just imagin, would anime be the same if they drew the character the way the Japanese look?
So I do believe it's all a matter of expression and their interest with western culture.[/color][/size]

[sesshoumaru0013]

I'm working on a manga style comic book and eyes are the hardest to draw but well worth the time. I agree that if they drew the Japanese, the characters would look too similar.

[oshi]

I don't think that a lot of anime people look particularly Western or Asian. Some are cat people. The eyes are large to show expression, which is something that Western animators are seeming to pick up on. The size of eyes is used to characterize better, too--smaller eyes portray a different personality than large, shiny ones. It's a technique that may or may not be grounded in ethnicity, but what's the difference? I know some people around here who are whiter than white, and their eyes are more Asian than our actual Asian students.
Also . . . it's come to my attention that in Gravitation, Shuichi does have pink hair . . . but that he can't tell whether or not Yuki is Japanese because his hair is blonde. It might be the light color of his eyes, but I don't think he mentions this as a factor. Which is more Japanese, is my question: flaming magenta hair, or blonde hair? *smile*
(i don't think these things mean anything)
oshi

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]But if you watch things like Spriggan, the eyes are really quite small compared to those in most animes.

I like the big bright colourful eyes. I know they're not really realistic, but they look very nice anyway. It did strike me as a little odd that few look traditionally Japanese, but it's come to be a fundamental element of the characters now. They do help convey a lot of emotion, as has already been said. I think the colour of the eyes also tends to denote a certain kind of personality *shrugs* Maybe it's just coincidence that Ryoko of Nadesico and Rika of Digimon Tamers both have green eyes and start off had having fiery temperaments.[/COLOR]

[TheGodlyME]

Okay...I've heard that the eyes are so big to show expression better, like most of the others have been saying.

I also have heard that the hair colors are different to more easily distinguish certain characters. Since there are really only 4 natural hair colors(Black, Blond, Brown, and Red), they would probably have to make some blue, purple, etc. so it is easier to tell the difference(or single out) between each of the characters. Personally, I think that the differet colored hair is just cool!!:tasty:

[shahi]

( Some times the boys have the bigger eyes in certaint animes). I love to draw the eyes I think the eyes make the picture. If the eyes arn't drawn to express the characters personality then the picture doesn't turn out as good. that why I almost always draw the eyes first. They express the characters personality depending on how their drawned. thats probably why their drawn so big their a large part of the picture.

[AthenAltena]

Well, cultures from all over the world think that the eyes are the windows into the soul. (Kirika Yuumura is good evidence for that.) Generally in Anime the bigger the "light point" in someone's eyes the cuter they look. As it turns out the first thing I learned to draw in anime was the eyes, and if you screw up the eyes on a character I learned very quickly it completely wrecks their expression.

[Xyandar]

I LOVE the anime eyes. I always confused me to think if they were Japanese or if they were not. I personally love CardCaptors eyes. They really put detail into Sakuras and Madisons eyes.(except when they goof off its just a dot) Yes I love the show too lol. The eyes really grab my attention to the characters because to me it shows what kind of person they are. Sakuras' eyes are always cheerful so I know she is always a happy girl. Li's(Lee's.. dont know which) eyes are always mean or angry looking and it really shows for the attitude he always seems to have against Sakura and the other girls lol. In Conclusion, Anime eyes are amazing and I hope they NEVER change:D