Forum - View topicAnime character concerns of frequent closed eyes. (Spoilers)
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OKong
Posts: 99 |
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Ever since I got into animes, I have noticed some characters would never open their eyes throughout the series. Let's take .hack//SIGN for example. In a couple of episodes, A-20 appears and she never ever opens her eyes and she is not blind. Then, there was Please Teacher!. Two characters, one a supporting character Konoha Edajima and the other a minor character the Principal always have their eyes shut. They never open their eyes and they are not blind. What in the world is all this eyes-shut nonsense suppose to mean if these characters are not visually impaired??
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Iwatch2muchanime
 Posts: 1291 |
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Well, I don't know completely about that but some characters like Brock from Pokemon's eyes are actually open all the time, his eyes just look like that.
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Raven Shinobi
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There's also Kitsune from Love Hina and Chichiri from Fushigi Yuugi, the aforementioned characters don't have mutual traits to speak of nor similar roles other than most of them -like Kitsune, Brock and Chichiri- provide a few chuckles throughout the series, it could be just a different approach at designing a comic relief character for the sake of some variety.
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omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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There is also Shojiro (?) in Rouroni Kenshin. I used to think that it was a symbol of wisdom. Other examples would be that ninja from Basilisk, the one that can transform into diffrent people, though he opens his eyes when he is angry. I usally saw older characters with their eyes shut which is why I thought it was a sympol of wisdom (or a way to design a character that was supposed to have wisdom).
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Actually, as far as I've noticed, it's often at least a simple look into the character's personality. First guy to come to mind is Fuji from Prince of Tennis, for the longest time, he has his eyes closed, but if he ever gets serious enough to open his eyes... it's game over for the opponent.
I think what it tends to be is that the character is potrayed as so wise, so worldly, they don't need their eyes to know what's going on. Obviously.... they're not really that all knowing, but they tend to be laid back characters who have an excellent grasp of what's going on (or... occassionally, so blind that nothing can permeate their idiocy); and if they ever open their eyes and do become serious... you as a viewer better be paying attention to what happens next. Yeah, I think it's a bit of a gimmick, at least as much as any other anime convention, but at least it's a bit more... sly... in how it gets the message across. EDIT: Wow, I'm a slow typer sometimes... didn't see Omar's post. Guess he came to a similar conclusion. Last edited by selenta on Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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omar235
Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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Well you know they say great minds think alike.
 You brought up another good point though that it could mean they are beyond idoicy and/or are very lax. They alsocould be sly types to.
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Iwatch2muchanime
Posts: 1291 |
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Well that is true, Fat Buu from DBZ had his eyes closed the whole time until he got angry, he opened them and he got way more powerful. Same with the other character, they tend to be "experienced" enough not to actually need their eyes until something serious happens so they need them.
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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Kitsune from Love Hina was the first example that came to my mind, as well. If we accept the saying that "the eyes are the windows to the soul," anime characters' eyes follow that pattern. In the case of Kitsune, she's a crafty, devious, trickster character who is rarely straightforward or honest, which explains her eyes being squinted shut most of the time. Note that in episode 18, she does have her eyes open during some cute/sweet moments where she's more emotionally open. So that's pretty much the visual code: constantly-closed-eyes = shifty, devious character who is hiding something and does not have a "transparent" personality, i.e. you can't "see into" them.
Contrast this with someone like Tohru from Fruits Basket, who almost constantly sports huge, wide-open eyes. |
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Brock is the first one that came to mind here... I am already convinced he is holding in some kind of hidden power like the other chracters that have been mentioned. Waited 300+ episodes and never seen him open his eyes... If they were to make just ONE episode where he opens his eyes, I would go back to watching Pokemon JUST to see that episode. They should make the next Pokemon movie out of that...
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Raven Shinobi
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As I remembered more characters with the closed eyes design like the total air-head Buruma's mom in DBZ, Ezra from Vandread and the bratty Koenma -his child form- in Yu Yu Hakusho, I figured that their personality don't follow a certain archetype, they could be anything from the wise observers like some of the previous posts have explained to the timid goody two shoes.
I'm not so sure if it's a part of the Japanese culture, but I remember once seeing a fox in one of the Japanse fictions darwn with its eyes closed, so Mitsune might've been given the closed eyes with the nickname "Kitsune" to indicate she's sly and manipulative. |
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tru-alucard
 Posts: 18 |
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i know what you're talking about but i think it's not so much their eyes are closed... just supposed to kind of tell you they don't open them very wide. like me for example, most people cant tell if my eyes are open most the time, it's just one of those things. although my eyes being like that comes from living at night most of my life, it's still neither common nor rare to see people who's eyes look much like some anime character's barely open eyes.
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TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
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I remember another closed-eye character -- Takasugi Shingo from Captain Tsubasa. I've only seen him opening his eyes once, in amazement.
Note: I captured that pic from Captain Tsubasa J. PS: If you want to see Takasugi as he is, Click here. He's the tall guy in the back, behind the kid that's talking to Tsubasa. |
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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Yeah, it typically represents either wisdom, serentiy, mischiviousness, or mirth. Typically fox spirit characters are shown with eyes like that too, which is a sign of mischief. As others have said, it's not that their eyes are closed though, just that they're kinda squinty or perhaps heavilly lidded, like half-asleep, depending on the character.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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For one, it would be a character design, two, a majority of the characters that I have seen with their eyes closed are always calm and know what they are doing. When it comes to Brock though, he's always chasing women, so not all of these characters are wise.
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Yeah, it's just a style and is usually used to represent an aspect of that character. Most recent occurrence of this I've seen is Vincent in Ergo Proxy. In that case it appears to represent him in his complacent and accepting state and when he begins to open his eyes it seems to actually represent him truly seeing what the world around him is about and represents rather than the filtered version they want the citizens to see. At least that's how it appears to be so far, I must admit it's a pretty cryptic series.
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