Anime & Manga Saitama is the exception of course

[xpstitch]

Is there some unspoken rule in anime that the worlds the anime characters live in are ones in which there is an overwhelming number of foreigners in Japan? Or is it rather that there is a rule in which all females in Japan have a Jpop obsession or the men are all lady gaga fans? Is every anime male metrosexual? Does everybody wear contact lenses or is Japan at a stage in time where bodily modification is the norm? Does Japanese science mess with genes a lot and so everybody has unusual hair and eye coloring?

In reality, it's probably just anime writers thinking the anime would be pretty boring if all the characters had brown eyes and black hair like ethnically Japanese people do in the real world. If all the characters looked the same, certainly it would get confusing for the viewer to tell who's who just by looks. Just thought I'd point out how nobody seems to question the abundance of crazy anime hair and people in anime (set in Japan) with blonde hair and blue eyes or some other crazy stuff. (I don't know if people notice this but Japanese people in real life don't naturally have pink hair and green eyes).

I think it would be interesting to hear what anime artists come up with to explain the IN WORLD reason as to why all the characters have unnatural hair and eyecolors. (Not to mention outrageously crazy haircuts in men, considering traditional Japanese culture is quite big on modesty and all these flashy poofy haircuts tend to draw much attention). Is it perhaps that the worlds in which anime takes place is set in versions of earth where Japanese culture was altered drastically to the point where modesty and conformity were no longer as prevalent as is in real life?

 

[Strawberry Ink]

... Okay, ignoring the obvious answer of "the art direction gave main characters a crazy look for convinience," if everyone in said show has crazy hair and nobody points it out... wait for it... maybe it actually is normal in this AU Japan.

If anime characters not looking Japanese enough bothers you, why not watch anime that are not targeting young kids and high schoolers? Anime that targets an older audience tend to stray a little from the crazy colors although you may still find the MC with blue eyes or something.

I fail to see why any of this matters though. It's like asking why no one wonders how Johnny Bravo manages to stand when he has pencil-thin legs.

 

[xpstitch]

... Okay, ignoring the obvious answer of "the art direction gave main characters a crazy look for convinience," if everyone in said show has crazy hair and nobody points it out... wait for it... maybe it actually is normal in this AU Japan.

If anime characters not looking Japanese enough bothers you, why not watch anime that are not targeting young kids and high schoolers? Anime that targets an older audience tend to stray a little from the crazy colors although you may still find the MC with blue eyes or something.

I fail to see why any of this matters though. It's like asking why no one wonders how Johnny Bravo manages to stand when he has pencil-thin legs.

I have no clue who you are but for some reason it seems as if you have taken this post and spilled negativity all into it when there was none intended into it in the first place. Never did I say it bothered me so I don't know how you got that nor do I know if you meant to be negative towards me but it doesn't seem called for. You... Didn't mean that yes?

On the subject of how and why it matters, I will answer that it matters because I say it does. My curiousity might not be shared by all but I just thought someone else may have some brilliant insight on it. There seem many a questions that seem pointless to others, it doesn't mean they don't matter in some capacity. My curiosity requires no more justification than the fact that I am indeed curious about it.

 

[Onmyoji]

I believe it originally started because they had to distinguish characters somehow in manga. Since manga is black and white, if everyone had same black hair it would have been hard to understand who is who, so there had to be differences in hairstyles, and some characters' hair was not colored which transferred into being blond or other colors in anime.

If you check historical manga/anime which happens to be close to actual history, you won't see weird hairstyles and colors there as much as you see them in manga/anime that are not true to life.

 

[xpstitch]

I believe it originally started because they had to distinguish characters somehow in manga. Since manga is black and white, if everyone had same black hair it would have been hard to understand who is who, so there had to be differences in hairstyles, and some characters' hair was not colored which transferred into being blond or other colors in anime.

If you check historical manga/anime which happens to be close to actual history, you won't see weird hairstyles and colors there as much as you see them in manga/anime that are not true to life.

Well yes, I guessed it was something of that manner. I was however hypothesizing on the IN world explanations. Interesting point about the manga though. I suppose it would be quite difficult to tell characters apart in black and white.

 

[Onmyoji]

In real world we can just assume they dye the hair XD

 

[Idea]

In real world we can just assume they dye the hair XD

Actually we probably can't since characters are sometimes shown being born with brightly colored hair and the like.

If one needs a in-universe explanation, then might I suggest that in those worlds hair can simply appear in that color? Maybe as a recessive gene of sorts

 

[Onmyoji]

That's a good point.
I like your idea about those colors on genetic level

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

I know of one manga that actually does have a (spoofy) explanation for weird hair colors: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

It's explained that the main character pulled psychic shenanigans and somehow changed everyone's genetic code, just so that his pink hair wouldn't stand out as much.

It's a silly explanation, but hey, it's an explanation.