Are the characters asian?

[jinglejoe]

I've wondered this about all anime, the characters are made by asians, but they look like whites. Brock's the only character who does look asian.

 

[Legacy]

I don't know. I don't think race is necessarily something that matters in the Pokemon World. Technically the Pokemon World isn't Earth is it? So there's no 'Asia' therefore no 'Asians.'

 

[Falconwing]

There is, however, a Minnesota.

 

[Cybersai]

They're all intended to be Asian, its the dubs that Americanize their names and personalities.

Take a look at their original names:

Satoshi
Kasumi
Takeshi
Haruka
Hikari
Masato
Shigeru
Shinji

Can you honestly get more Japanese than that?

 

[Legacy]

There is, however, a Minnesota.

wooooo!!! My home.

 

[jinglejoe]

Well in the raw version they probley want to make the characters names sound japanese.

 

[Falconwing]

well, I don't think names are what make them Asian. They still look the same but the names are different. I think they are animean.

 

[Hector]

There is, however, a Minnesota.

that was a dub only joke. but yeah i guess there is a Minnesota in Pokemon land.

 

[Flaze]

wooooo!!! My home.

Exapt quotes
Brock: I didn't know vikings excisted.
Ash: They probably live in Minessota
Or something like that I don't remember

 

[Hector]

Exapt quotes
Brock: I didn't know vikings excisted.
Ash: They probably live in Minessota
Or something like that I don't remember

its:

Brock: I didn't know Vikings still existed
Ash: They're mostly from Minnesota

 

[Legacy]

Judging by the hair and eye colors, some of the characters are meant to be non-asian I think.

I wonder if Ash/Satoshi was intended to be Japanese?

 

[Sleet]

I'm guessing Brock is probably supposed to be Filipino, or the Pokémon world equivalent. The rest, I think if they have a nationality they're Asian. If not, they're probably just meant to be ambiguous so both Eastern and Western viewers can associate with them (to an extent).

 

[TTEchidna]

They're anime characters. Cartoons. They take license with their hair and eye colors because otherwise it'd be boring. They're not specifically Asian or not Asian. They're just people.

 

[MasterTrainer]

Someone please explain why anime characters are drawn with giant Caucasian eyes rather than Mongoloid/Asian ones.
DO also explain why it is NOT because of an inferiority complex Asians have for wide Caucasian eyes.
Explain also why this is also seen in anime's meant for older audiences and not only in children's animes.

This way we'll get some head way upon this topic.

And explain it all with plenty of details as well. Thank you!

 

[Dogasu]

Look at any American cartoon. You assume that everyone in the show is American unless stated otherwise.

Japanese cartoons are no different.

 

[playthestatic]

Someone please explain why anime characters are drawn with giant Caucasian eyes rather than Mongoloid/Asian ones.

Can you give me some evidence that large eyes are a Caucasian characteristic, and small eyes an Asian one? I'm curious because I'm fully Chinese (as far as I know) and have naturally big eyes. Furthermore, I have encountered Caucasians with small eyes. I haven't seen any studies yet, but I get the distinct impression that eye size varies among Asian groups.

 

[Dogasu]

That reminds me of a story, actually.

First of all, I assume you all know this, but just in case...I'm currently living in Japan, teaching English.

So anyway, I was teaching a class one day and was asked to kill some time with the students. So, I decided to play Scattegories with them. The letter that was chosen was "T," so the students had to go down a list of categories and pick things that begin with the letter "T." Y'know, stuff like transportation (train), animals (tiger), countries (Turkey), etc.

Well, one of the categories was "Animation Characters." So, unsurprisingly, one of the groups chose "Takeshi" as their answer. One of the kids asked who that was, and another student answered by pulling her eyes back with her fingers (the way American kids do when they imitate Asians) and saying "the guy from Pocket Monsters with eyes like this."


Seriously, the "slanty-eyed" stereotype only exists in the West. And honestly, after being here for almost two years and seeing Japanese people with eye sizes just as varied as the ones back home, I kind of think that the stereotype is complete bull.

 

[Ho-oh]

Lol. I'll go with stereotypes. Brock is definitely Asian, and possibly Ash. However, I don't think any other character looks Asian at all, especially the women. News flash: Asians aren't white. But all anime is like that, otherwise the Japanese would be bashing themselves.

that was a dub only joke. but yeah i guess there is a Minnesota in Pokemon land.

But I don't think that matters. After all, 4kids had the license, so it was indeed canon. Therefore, Minnesota is canon.

 

[Hassel]

But I don't think that matters. After all, 4kids had the license, so it was indeed canon. Therefore, Minnesota is canon.

No, it isn't. 4Kids-only things aren't canon.

You guys probably aren't familiar with anime at all?

 

[wy the f naut]

To my interpretation, the characters are pretty much what you think/want them to be.