About the looks of anime characters

[Takanori_Yoshida]

It's been bothering me for awhile but I think (even thou you guys might not agree) that a lot of anime characters are way too skinny. Even when they say they're fat in some episodes where they've supposedly gained weight they still don't look like that to me. Usualy there are only certain characters that are a bit fat,like eg old guys with mustaches (just one example) I've created some characters myself and I alway tend to draw them a bit more realistic than the average anime person.

What are your thoughts about this?

[Aca]

Yeah i agree,totally...
Just look at Code Geass ^^ ultra tall and skinny :) i mean i absolutely love CG ,one of the best anime ever!,but still ,that factor is a bit unrealistic...
It bothers me that in anime almost all char's are like perfect,skinny,muscly,tall,pretty etc etc...

[uekipheonix]

yes , I have also noticed that. Perhaps they just prefer skinny characters over people with a good buildup. Infact almost all anime are like that ( Vampire knight , xxx Holic , EF series , DN , etc ).

it would be nice if they break the pattern even for once ^^

[Aca]

Well i seriously doubt that ... but would be nice though ...

[NoNameFace]

lol i totally agree with that on CG characters being tall and skinny
alot of animes make the girls pretty skinny too and have big boobs but that doesnt really bother me ^_^

[Leezah]

I suppose it's because in anime everyone's practically perfect in body size/weight. It's almost like live action TV shows. No one wants to see 'normal' people on there. Everyone's attractive in one way or another. Although yeah, there's way too many thin characters in anime, overly thin, unfortunately.

[Deekle]

Well it is fantasy, asking fiction to be more realistic just can't happen. I'd rather watch perfect-looking people than a bunch of ugly people unless I want to watch something realistic, but why not just go out and live life if you want realism. Anime for me is escapism from reality.

[uekipheonix]

Its not quite true, anime is actually for entertainment , whether it is an escape from reality or it percent us a piece of reality depends on the type of anime. ( even tho most anime are rather un realistic in many ways )

But you are right on the fact that people prefer to see the perfect charecters rather than some un attractive normal looking people , I mean Fan Base it purely depending on the looks and the mood of the charecter in most cases ^^

[Skwiddz]

Has anyone seen Strawberry Panic?
All of the characters have big boobs, and hips but TINY arms and legs. Quite unproportioned but it works. I guess artists just draw what they like, even if it isn't realistic. Although in saying that I tend to draw anime (or attempt to :#) to look more like normal people, but with me being me they all have big boobs ^.^

[rjtayler]

There are a couple of exceptions to the skinny rule in Saki, however those are background characters. Also Cowboy Bebop did have some exceptions as well. It is largely the Authors own tastes showing through in most if not all cases.