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Anatomically speaking Europeans don't look like that either. But most of the
people look more European than Japanese, at least it seems to me ... Maybe
it's the round eyes? And the non-black hair in some cases?


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Why are most people in anime white or European-looking (instead of Japanese)?


Just like [@senshin](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/1908/senshin)
stated in his comment, for the Japanese people, their characters do look
Asian.

There is a really nice article written about this on
[thesocietypages](http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/08/30/guest-post-
why-do-the-japanese-draw-themselves-as-white/) and as stated there:

> Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white? You see that especially in
> manga and anime.
>
> As it turns out, that is an American opinion, not a Japanese one. The
> Japanese see anime characters as being Japanese. It is Americans who think
> they are white. Why? Because to them white is the Default Human Being.
>
> [...]
>
> Americans apply this thinking to Japanese drawings. **But to the Japanese
> the Default Human Being is Japanese! So they feel no need to make their
> characters “look Asian”**. They just have to make them look like people and
> everyone in Japan will assume they are Japanese – no matter how improbable
> their physical appearance.

In your question, you also said _" Maybe it's the round eyes? And the non-
black hair in some cases?"_

The article above also pointed out something about that:

> [...] the Default Human Being thing is so strong that lacking other clear,
> stereotyped signs of being either black or Asian she defaults to white.
>
> When you think about it there is **nothing particularly white about how
> anime characters look** :
>
>   * **huge round eyes** – no one looks like that, not even white people
> (even though that style of drawing eyes does go back to Betty Boop).
>   * **yellow hair** – but they also have blue hair and green hair and all
> the rest. Therefore, hair colour is not about being true to life.
>   * **small noses** – compared to the rest of the world whites have long
> noses that stick out.
>   * **white skin** – but many Japanese have skin just as pale and white as
> most White Americans.
>

Of course, there are also exceptions. A nice example is indeed [Dan
Eagleman](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AGJjJ.jpg), as stated by @senshin. The
moment they need to make somebody look non-Japanese, they will try to design
the character more to the American/European stereotype, i.e.

  * Bigger noses
  * Blond hair/blue eyes/white
  * Speaks fluent English


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I agree that in Aku no Hana they actually do look Japanese. Let's face it, we
all know that Japanese, Chinese, and Korean have small, almost squinty eyes.
White people don't necessarily have big eyes either, but they're bigger than
the ones a typical Asian would have. Some say that the Japanese are trying to
take over the world by drawing their characters as Caucasians. I have noticed
that in animes the major characters are always white. It's very rare to even
have an African character pop up every now and then as a on the side
character, but that's about the most culture variation you'll see.

Religion doesn't pop up either in animes, with the exception of the monks, and
statues of Buddha that appear(only Japanese culture is allowed in JAPANESE
anime and manga of course). And my point on religion and the appearances of
the characters is that not every one has the same way of life or is
comfortable wearing mini skirts. In a lot of religions they're not allowed to
do some of those things that people on animes do. Like dating, flirting, going
all the way before marriage, or even as a girl showing your thighs to another
girl is not allowed. So, in the anime world every one is actually the same,
even though the main character is usually some what different from the others,
but in a way that we can't relate to because it's usually impossible IRL. Like
in the anime series Naruto, he (Naruto) starts out as an out cast because of
the fox demon sealed inside him. Therefore, treated differently by his peers
in a negative way.

The thing about hair colour, well, Asians almost always have black hair. On
the other hand, Europeans are more often found with hair that is red. But, I
read that that it is possible for Asian and African people to inherit the two
copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the
MC1R protein(causes red hair). Considering the facts, most red heads have
European genes, which is why people on animes that have red hair or even blond
hair with blue eyes AND white skin, look like white people. But when
characters have randomly crazy, awesome and impossible IRL hair colours like
BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE, PINK, TURQUOISE, etc. you know it's just part of the
illustrators' design.


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I disagree that anime are portraying causcasian/european, because they're
portraying Japanese obviously if they have Japanese names... therefore I agree
with Senshin, and Dimitri mx

If you look at the Japanese subcultures, they like to dye their hair in
different colors to defy the norm, which are largely dark hair, not trying to
look caucasian. I hear people claim that anime looks caucasian/europe makes me
sad, as it shows how limited their world view is... Not all Asian has small
squinty eyes, I've known a lot of friends who has round and big eyes, there
are even more if you go to Asian countries. It's like saying those Causcasians
who like to tan their skin are trying to be African American, or those who
like to dance hip hop or rap are trying to be African American, but are they?
Maybe some of them are, but most of them tan their skin because they think it
looks nice with their overall eyes and hair, just like Asian/Japanese dye
their hair because they think it looks nice with their complexion, and that is
reflected in anime with different hair colors etc.


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I'm Chinese, but I see white people when I watch anime too. It is incredibly
obvious actually:

White skin as opposed to Japanese toned. Round eyes as opposed to Japanese
shaped, blonde/red/brown hair as opposed to black, and Caucasian face shape as
opposed to Asian shaped.

Even though I grew up in Canada, I still don't think "white" is the default
human to me. I don't believe Japanese see Japanese people either, unless the
character is Tenchi or one of his friends or something.


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Um, sorry but they don't look European to me...

Their facial structure looks Asian, and their hairstyles are more in the style
of Asian fashions (well, most Asian can pull it off since they tend to have
younger looking faces). Their hair color comes in all ranges so that doesn't
count.

When anime portrays Westerners, they tend to have bigger jaws (which is true)
and you can distinctly see their nose is bigger/higher. (Look at Monsters for
example: those Germans look like Westerners to me, while Tenma certainly looks
Japanese.)

To be honest, in most animated Western movies, characters don't look like the
average American to me; rather, it's their mannerisms that makes them look
American. I was watching Tangled and I noticed that her eyes are very big, to
the point where no one can have eyes that big, but minus the big eyes and her
mannerisms, yes she comes across as western to me.

That applies to most anime, their eyes are impossibly big for a human being,
but minus their non-human eyes, I see lots of Asian features in there, and
their mannerism makes it more obvious. Take Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
for example. Most characters, like Cloud (minus blue eye and blond hair), look
like Gackt, who is Japanese, to me. And Tifa looks very Japanese. the first
time I ever saw a Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core/Advent Children cut scene, I
thought they look very Japanese/anime aesthetic, and I haven't watched much
anime at the time as well. You can argue that they look Eurasian more than
pure European.

And anime looks out of this world, but with some Asian aesthetic. That's my
conclusion. So I disagree; they don't look European. They look Japanese and I
accept it as that.


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I believe the Japanese were/are highly influenced by western and American
culture. So to avoid looking like someone or as a self-hating country as a
whole, they say they think that's how the average Japanese person looks
instead of 'I like the way whites look.' This is just my opinion, but I see
that it could also very much be a fact because if the Japanese see the
characters as "Japanese" why just draw them the way we usually see them? Why
not with dark skin, or different features? Features we usually see in other
cultures. Wanna know why that's usual? Because they don't like it, and don't.
See the beauty in it and don't want to be or look like it.


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There's a huge diversity of faces among Japanese people. Cartoon characters
are hugely simplified, such that you can only typically identify ethnicity of
a character if they're drawn to have stereotypical features. But why should
Japanese people draw only stereotypical Asian features on characters in a show
100% intended for a Japanese audience? Generally, it is intended for people to
assume the characters are Japanese unless stated otherwise.

They only try to distinguish ethnicity in their character designs when the
character is _not_ Japanese, and then they tend to draw very stereotypical
features. From examples like that, you can also tell that Japanese people have
a very different idea of what a stereotypical caucasian looks like too. They
tend to draw at least the men with clefted chins, square jaws, prominent
cheekbones, wide mouths. Sort of like how we draw stereotypical superhero
faces, really.


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If we look back to Astroboy, the first regularly broadcast tv-length animated
series, we can see that characters are still not necessarily Asian-looking

![Astroboy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GJYoem.jpg)

Astroboy started off as a show targeted mostly towards the Japanese, but soon
Tezuka realised that it would not strike a profit on this alone. 52 episodes
were sold to NBC Enterprises (as opposed to NBC Network), who in turn
distributed the show to several places throughout America.

Because of the US's different perspective of what is and is not acceptable for
broadcasting on television, several episodes were not broadcast in the States
- one of these includes a plot device where a message is held inside the
eyeball of a statue of Jesus. Because the US's involvement was critical for
Astroboy's success, Osamu Tezuka & his company Tezuka Productions Ltd. had to
take this into consideration in later episodes that they produced.

Now that the US were a recognised target audience of the show whom had
influence on its production, Tezuka advised production to make the show
_denationalized_ \- that is, they started to include signs in English,
removing 'openly Japanese elements' and overall, making the show more
accessible to both local and foreign sales.

* * *

Also, in the early days of anime, smaller Japanese studios were always
competing with the large US giants such as Disney. As a result, Japanese
animation was greatly influenced by them - Tezuka's style (along with many
other mangaka's of this era) was quite Disney-like, subconsciously affected by
the studio's large successes.

Disney's productions themselves were quite denationalized, some series more so
than others, but American viewers did not have to experience a large stylistic
change when watching Japanese cartoons - and for the most part, they usually
assumed they were American.

Ladd with Deneroff 2009: 21 (on Astroboy in America)

> "We don't plan to advertise the fact that the series is being animated in
> Japan. We're not going to deny it, if anybody asks, but we're not going to
> publicize it, either. First of all, there are probably some buyers at
> stations out there who still haven't gotten over the fact that Japan was our
> enemy in World War Two. Second, if a buyer hears that the show is of
> Japanese origin, he's going to think it must be cheap [...]"

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/v14dIm.jpg)

(American shows are mostly denationalized too)

This isn't the only show to have these concerns however. Denationalization is
a significant part of anime history as Japanese studios were always competing
with their American counterparts, whose animation was higher quality and
cheaper to import than produce locally.

* * *

Take a brief look at Scott McCloud's _Understanding Comics_ :

![enter link description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OecNw.png)

The more generic a character, the more one can associate with them, and by
choosing a neutral coloured skin tone, more of the audience will associate
with it.

* * *

As a counter example, an animated movie in which Eastern traits were desired
was _The tale of the white serpent_. As you can see below, the design of the
characters were more oriental. Anyway, denationalization has become the norm
and only shows which seek to emphasize Eastern design include it.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/pRFrY.jpg)

* * *

Anime evolved with this feature in mind, and as other people have pointed out
- audiences will always try to associate with characters in media, whether
that be books, anime, film, etc. So, what may look _European/American_ to you,
may look equally Asian to those residing there because of the general design
of the characters.

**References:**

  * Anime: A History by Jonathan Clements (p123,124)
  * Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud


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As the top answers have already stated, the characters do look Asian from the
point of view of the artists, but I want to add that Japanese people (and
other Asian nations) [have a fascination with white
skin](http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china-and-its-neighbors/091123/asia-
white-skin-treatments-risks).

The linked article gives an overview of the phenomenon. Pale skin is seen as
an ideal trait that many young women strive for. Its origin is not in trying
to appear more Western or European, but rather has a history in economic
status, where field workers who were out in the sun all day would have much
darker skin than the aristocrats staying in the shade. Today, it is manifested
as an unrealistic beauty standard for women, not unlike the ones in the United
States and other countries.

How this relates to anime is that artists typically enjoy drawing beautiful
people, unless they are concerned with realism (which, let's face it, most
anime is not). In this case, that means having pale skin.


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