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Why do ANIMES have characters with HUGE eyes?


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Darc_knight



Joined: 03 Jul 2006
Posts: 169
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:36 pm Reply with quote
I really don't get why Japensese people would create themselves with big eyes. Are they wishing they had bigger eyes, or are they just trying to blend in with the rest of the world? On the other hand, are they just drawing because it loooks nice?
This is a question that has been bugging me for a while now.
I don't mean to be offensive in any way.
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selenta
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Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Posts: 1774
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:45 pm Reply with quote
It's nothing metaphorical to my knowledge. It's mostly just the style that anime has, the main idea seems to be that larger eyes show expression easier. What's odd though is that it doesn't LOOK as unnatural to people as it would look if someone really was shaped like that.
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shadow_guyver



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 307
Location: Tokyo, Japan
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:45 pm Reply with quote
My understanding is that the large eyes come from the legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka, creator of Black Jack and Astro Boy among many other series. Tezuka himself was influenced by Disney, and ended up incorporating various ideas including large eyes, which are useful for showing how the character feels.

So I guess it's all Disney's fault.
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Steventheeunuch





PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:48 pm Reply with quote
One part of it is Disney/Older Animation, but it goes further than that. larger eyes are more expressive, and there's more leeway/creativity to be had with them if they were just normal eyes. It's a bit hard to explain but thats probably the best reason, though there are some Anime that have realistic eyes.

On top of this, real eyes a bit more detailed and on a small scale, which'd make them harder to do considering time/budget/whatever else.
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PantsGoblin
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Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 2969
Location: L.A.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:50 pm Reply with quote
Wikipedia wrote:
While different titles and different artists have their own unique artistic styles, many stylistic elements have become common to the point that they are described as being definitive of anime in general, and have been given names of their own. A common style is the large eyes style drawn on many anime characters, credited to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, who was inspired by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse and from Disney's Bambi. Tezuka found that large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions expressions distinctly. Cultural anthropologist Matt Thorn argues that Japanese animators and audiences do not perceive such stylized eyes as inherently more or less foreign. When Tezuka began drawing Ribbon no Kishi, the first manga specifically targeted at young girls, Tezuka further exaggerated the size of the characters' eyes. Indeed, through Ribbon no Kishi, Tezuka set a stylistic template that later shōjo artists tended to follow. Another variation of this style is "chibi" or "super deformed"; which usually feature huge eyes, an enlarged head, and small body.


Lol. unhealthyman posted almost the same thing at the same time as me. Wierd.

Last edited by PantsGoblin on Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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unhealthyman



Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 306
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:50 pm Reply with quote
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#Style

Quoted from wikipedia:
Quote:
A common style is the large eyes style drawn on many anime characters, credited to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, who was inspired by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse and from Disney's Bambi. Tezuka found that large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions expressions distinctly. Cultural anthropologist Matt Thorn argues that Japanese animators and audiences do not perceive such stylized eyes as inherently more or less foreign
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:11 pm Reply with quote
I also think that in some anime series, it's a way to idenitfy the good from the bad. The good guys have large eyes and the villians have small or "normal" eyes. Of course, this isn't always the norm. A lot of it depends on the manga-ka, the director and the character designer. But as a standard, I feel, that it's a good one to use.
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m0oSe



Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:12 pm Reply with quote
This should freak some people out http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=7470&display=photoshop#entries

o_O
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straydog-sama



Joined: 03 Jul 2006
Posts: 39
Location: Newark, NJ AKA the Domepoli of Wulgusk
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:21 pm Reply with quote
I believe that this is the reason, so I'll qoute two authors from the How to draw Manga books.

"Anime characters are drawn that way because the facial features are simple, expressive, and easy to repeat through the many storyboards of an anime, and many panels of a comic strip."
Ilya-san & Yahya El- Droubie, How to draw Manga

I think that the eyes are so big because the Japanese believe that the eyes are windows to the soul, and bigger eyes on an anime character gives an insight to the character's personality.
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Darc_knight



Joined: 03 Jul 2006
Posts: 169
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:24 pm Reply with quote
LoL. That link is great. Thanks a lot. My friends and I were cracking up. I loved Paris Hilton. A lot of people look much better animeted than the way they really do.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:12 pm Reply with quote
I can tell you one thing, it appeals to a lot of guys when it comes to the female characters. That's why I watch anime sometimes. But it's probably to make sure that they look like they can actually see.
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bluepita



Joined: 18 May 2005
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:54 pm Reply with quote
Whenever someone brings up the big eyes in anime (especially if the person isn't an anime fan), I always wonder why no one questions the big eyes in Disney Smile I mean really does anyone have bigger eyes than Princess Jasmine from Aladdin?? Smile
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frentymon
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Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:58 pm Reply with quote
Characters in visual novel games created by Key have some of the largest eyes I have ever seen. They look really cute on moe anime characters, but they don't look so great on other character types, and would be probably 2 inches long if eyes that large existed in real life.
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Ein, the wonder pup



Joined: 09 May 2006
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:22 am Reply with quote
I think it might have something to do with the old saying,
"The eyes are a window to the soul."


A simple analysis, yes I know, but think about it.


A characters eyes are drawn large and bright. Hence
that character is seen as full of life, vibrant and energetic.
(a good example is Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket)
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Azathrael



Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 745
PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:20 am Reply with quote
It is no longer just anime that have characters with huge eyes. I've seen a lot of Japanese girls who've had eye surgery to make their eyes look bigger. (Hamasaki Ayumi is a great example). Yes, it's freaky. Especially hers. But the well-done eyes look better on TV.
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