

I've always wondered why a lot of anime characters, or at least some, have
pointed chins. One example:

**Clannad** [![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pU8v.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pU8v.jpg)

I'm wondering why they have such pointy chins. Is it to make them cute or
something? Or is it because that's the easiest way to draw them? And if
possible, I would like to know when it started, or who was the first to start
including it in their work.


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2016-11-21T15:51:05.210
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question
tropes anime-history
Why do anime characters have pointy chins?


The answer is because that is what is deemed beautiful by Japanese. [This
article](https://blog.studyabroad.wisc.edu/archives/7760) posted in Wisconsin
Madison University tells us what is deemed beautiful by the Japanese in
general.

> First, the face. The face obviously has many important features: lips, eyes,
> ears, nose, and mouth. For the Japanese, every facial feature has to be
> small, except the eyes. They admire eyes that are big, and have what they
> call “double eyelids”. “Double eyelids” are eyelids that have the crease. As
> you may have noticed, Asians do not have that eyelid crease, and their eyes
> are very small. They even have a feature to make the eyes bigger when they
> take pictures in photo booths (Puriga-プリ画), which is a very popular activity
> to do with friends. Also, because my eyes are blue, I’ve noticed they admire
> eyes that aren’t dark brown. You may have also noticed that the majority of
> girls (even guys) are overly petite and skinny. They admire a small, **oval
> face** because it appears **more feminine and fragile**.

Other sites, ([thejapanguy.com](http://www.thejapanguy.com/the-8-standards-of-
japanese-beauty/) and
[yumitolesson.com](http://www.yumitolesson.com/the-7-standards-of-japanese-
beauty/)) also agrees that the Japanese deemed small face to be beautiful,
although they didn't explain it as good as the one I quoted above.

A Google search on plastic surgery shows that many of the surgeries are done
to make the chin more pointy. The following is a small example of the said
surgery's before and after.

[![plastic surgery in
Japan](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tmYEA.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tmYEA.jpg)

This is true not only in Japan, but also in the East Asia in general. Koreans
also like to have the plastic surgery to make their chin more pointy.

[![plastic surgery in
Korea](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3px2t.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/3px2t.jpg)

It is not clear who is the first to do this. The oldest anime that I can find
that features pointy chin is Akazuki Chacha.

[![Akazuki Chacha pointy
chin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OfHjM.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OfHjM.jpg)

However, it should be noted that they use pointy chin only on certain angles
and scenes. In other scene, the same character is shown with round face. What
is clear is that when they want to show a bishoujo (pretty girl) or a bishonen
(pretty boy) then they will draw her/him with a pointy chin. Once again,
because that is what is deemed beautiful by Japanese standard. Had anime came
from the Kayan tribe of Thailand, then the girls might have long necks
instead.

[![Kayan Tribe
Thailand](https://i.stack.imgur.com/un6te.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/un6te.jpg)


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2016-11-27T08:47:38.640
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answer