Asian or Caucasian?!

I've heard a lot of people who don't know much about anime and manga say that you never see any oriental (or East Asian) character designs in anime and manga and this issue is often used by many as a pretext to look down on the arts of anime and manga.

I have to admit that this issue is thought provoking. One cannot deny that there a ton of anime titles out there that use the so called “moe” character designs (large eyes, small mouth and nose...etc) but there are also many titles that don't use such designs at all. The question is: among the titles that don't use any “moe” character designs; are there any that use oriental designs?

This quetsion got me thinking so I decided to do some research in order to settle this issue once and for all with concrete proof. My research led me to compile a list of titles that have used oriental character designs in the past. The list is shown below:

1) Monster

2) Kurau Phantom Memory

3) Paprika

4) Otogizoushi

5) Happy (manga by Urasawa Naoki)

6) 20^th Century Boys (manga by Urasawa Naoki)

7) Zipang

8) A Spirit of the Sun (manga by Kawaguchi Kaiji)

9) Planetes

10) Like the Clouds, Like the Wind

11) Seirie no Moribito (it is set in a fantasy world but I will include it nonetheless)

12) Paranoia Agent

13) Texhnolyze

14) The Gokusen

15) Old Boy (manga by Nobuaki Minegishi)

16) Cromartie High School

17) Jin-Roh

18) WXIII: Patlabor The Movie 3

19) FLAG

20) Solanin (manga by Asano Inio)

21) Ciguatera (manga by Furuya Minoru)

22) Summer Holiday with Coo

23) Only Yesterday

24) Windy Tales (albeit the style is abstract)

25) Millennium Actress

26) Iryuu - Team Medical Dragon (manga by Tarou Nogizaka)

I believe that is a fair amount of titles that covers a large range of genres. There may be more titles that I don’t know about or I forgot to include so if you know of any such titles, by all means tell me in the comments section or via email and I will update the list.

The interesting thing is that all the titles listed above are not only examples of Far Eastern character designs but all of them represent some of the finest titles that anime and manga has to offer (and I’m talking about top quality here!). What's more fascinating is that all the people who use the character design issue to attack anime and manga haven't even watched or read any of the titles above despite the fact that all these titles are critically acclaimed. Of course all the serious anime and manga fans out there know that the main reason those people make such accusations is because they never bothered to look for such titles in the first place. It's always easier to make false accusations than to search for the truth.

There is another interesting issue I want to raise regarding character designs in anime. I’ve heard many people say that the widely used cute character designs that feature large eyes, small noses and small mouths are actually Caucasian character designs. I completely disagree. There are no Caucasian people with these facial features because if they did exist, they would be all over the news by now because they are different from the norm. Those widely used designs in anime were applied to Caucasian, Mongolian and Black races without exception. A famous example of this (though not something that I would call a quality example) is Plastic Little. That single episode OAV featured characters who belong to all the major human races but all of them were drawn using the same character design format mentioned above.

Now that I laid out all the facts, it’s time to tell you what I think and what I hope for. I believe that realistic character designs (Far Eastern designs if the story setting is Japan / Far East or other appropriate designs if the setting is outside the Far East) are best suited for serious titles while the cute design format is suitable for comedies. The number of anime and manga titles that feature Far Eastern designs have increased over the years and my guess is that it will continue to grow in the future. I don’t agree with other people who say that the cute character designs should be abolished because those designs are beautiful in their own way but I believe that their proper place should be in comedy and light titles. All in all, I think this cocktail of styles helps to enrich anime and manga and make them the captivating arts that we all know and love.

Edit: There is an interesting video on YouTube that actually sheds more light on this topic. You can see it here.

Anime: Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu

One of my favourite animes this season. Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu is just so Otaku style anime that it so keeps you to the edge of your seat... Particularly similar to animes that have harems and stuff, this anime would be well-liked by you too if you'd love Zero No Tsukaima to To Love-Ru.


Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu is set at the private high school Hakujō Academy in Japan and centers around the male protagonist Yūto Ayase and his classmate Haruka Nogizaka. While Yūto is rather ordinary, Haruka is very attractive, intelligent, and rich. Due to this, she is the school's most unattainable girl and is so idolized. One day, Yūto's good friend Nobunaga Asakura asks him to return a book to the school library, and when he goes to return it, Yūto stumbles across Haruka and her darkest secret—she is a diehard fan of anime, manga, and the otaku culture. Yūto promises to keep her secret hidden and the duo become close friends. Yūto does his best to help Haruka with her secret hobby while developing his relationship with her.


And so there you have it... watching something you like best is good after all. I just love a girl who likes my hobbies and if there's one out there, I'd immediately ask her out. lol. In any case, this anime is something extra ordinary from the rest but still there are some parts in which are boring at times or may be a repetition of other animes storyboard. Still, this is an anime worthwhile to watch... I love the intorduction too.

Visit the website at http://www.nogizaka-haruka.com/.

Anime: Natsume Yuujinchou

I have yet to seriously watch this anime but then again due to time contraints and stuff, I didn't really have the time to watch it... After fast forwarding the bits and chunks of this anime, I realize that it kinda interesting in some ways. Demons came popping out of nowhere and started befriending the main character. Well, you won't see this everyday but then again I guess I would keep this aside till I've finished up all my other animes first before proceeding on...


Natsume's just an ordinary kid, except he can see spirits, just like his grandma Reiko could. Reiko, though, used to bully the spirits, and bound them to her will in the "Book of Friends". Now that Natsume has inherited this book, a never-ending stream of spirits is coming after him. With the help of a spirit "cat" (who really just wants Natsume to die so he can have the book), Natsume spends his days dissolving the contracts that bind the spirits and trying not to get killed.


Natsume Yuujinchou is a nice anime for all to watch. Though it may be boring at times, it has certain sections which are most entertaining. If you like Amatsuki, then this may be a similar anime to it. You just gotta watch to know what it's about.

Visit the website at http://www.natsume-anime.jp/

Anime: Mission E

From a glimpse of it, Mission E seems like a classic anime but it airs in July this year. Mission E somehow continues from its previous predecessor named Code E but with the introduction of a new heroine into this group... Seriously, I too didn't have the time to watch this anime so am too gonna put this on hold till I finish watching Shagukan No Shana 2... With many animes started piling up in my to-watch lists, I think I gonna just save them all in a portable hard drive for future viewing purposes...


In the near future, there are people with TYPE-E capabilities who spend their lives normally, without noticing their capabilities. Miharu is an office worker. She worries because every electrical instrument near her breaks. One day, several men appear. They say that a crisis is approaching her and begin to take her away. Then two women in shining rainbow bodysuits appear. They have superb physical abilities and defeat the men easily to help Miharu. They begin to talk about the people who have TYPE-E capabilities and according to them, there are actually two conflicting power blocs namely OZ, the organization they belong to, which was founded to help TYPE-E-capable people adapt to society and the other one is Foundation, for which the aforementioned men work. They advocate the isolation and control of TYPE-E individuals.


Mission E could be the next thing in sci-fi action animes this season... Well there isn't much this time round other than Code Geass or Gundam... There are currently just 3 episodes on crunchyroll so you may wanna take your time to watch this without worry... Try watching some other exciting and popular ones that are zooming pass us even as we speak now...

Visit the website at http://avexmovie.jp/lineup/mission-e/

Anime: Mahou Tsukai Ni Taisetsu Na Koto - Natsu No Sora

A fantastic and almost realistic anime for a very long anime title... Known in english as 'Things That Are Precious To a Mage - Summer Skies', this anime is seriously different from any other anime I had encountered ever since Hoshi No Koe or Byousoku 5cm Story. It's pretty peaceful and gentle for an anime like this and very often, they would show amazingly realistic backgrounds for this anime... Well... A little too much but then it looks really amazing nonetheless. You can say that it's kinda similar to Initial D whereby the author focuses more detail in the cars than the characters but this time, this anime focuses more on the background details...


The story is set in present day Tokyo. Much of the setting is based upon real areas like Shibuya Crossing and Tokyo Tower. In Tokyo is the Bureau of Magic, which employs Mage Labour for certain special requests by everyday people. However, the mages must only use their magic with special permission, and any unlicensed use results in a penalty. The story is very gentle and centres around the protagonist, a witch named Yume Kikuchi, a 2nd year senior high school student from Tono in Iwate prefecture. In order to train as a magic user, she travels to Tokyo during her summer break to apprentice under the charming Masami Oyamada. It tells the tale of Yume's trials and tribulations as she works toward her eventual graduation as a full-fledged magic user licensed by the Bureau of Magic...


If you gonna like peaceful animes or to take a break from those action pack ones, then you may just wanna that a look at this anime... It simply blows your mind away... If you're not that kinda person who likes this genre I suggest you pass on this as it gets rather boring overtime as this anime is too peaceful... You'll know it when you visit the website...

Visit the website at http://www.somedaysdreamers.com/