About the looks of anime characters

[Batou-san]

yes, its the authors art-style that imprints onto the characters being skinny or other...
and while uekiphoenix said that a lot anime is like that with examples like xxxHolic, Code Geass and Vampire Knight, these series are all made in a distinct shoujo style which shows males as tall, prince-like people...so there is no surprise there...
look for example at Bleach and Naruto typically shonen titles the people there are better proportioned and have more developed physique...
so it all depends on genre and the style of the author...

[uekipheonix]

Nice point there Batou san ^^

Its tru that shoujou style follows prince type anime chars, but even if we consider shounen type like bleach or naruto still the main or significant characters are still the skinny type, like Ichigo , Ishida , Byakuya , Naruto, sasuke , kakashi and etc. But as you said not all are that type :)

[Batou-san]

I think it is natural for main characters to be the skinny type as the common thing in people minds is that a skinny-well built character is more likeable than other...
after all the heroes have to be better than we are...
and yes it is bad that all characters are portrayed like skinny and most of the time handsome type, but after all most would believe that such characters are more prone to become heroes....
for example, this is my personal experience, I am 6ft 2inch tall or about 188cm but I am also 120kg(265 lb) in weight and I have a scary face. So the most common opinion of people about me is that I am scary and hard to talk to...
So from anime point of view I would be a villain or some kind of minor character that does not matter, after all I have no visual features that would clearly say that I can be trusted.
But the characters in anime have to be trustworthy and we have to like them otherwise how can we witness their adventures and cheer them on?

[KingOfRoll]

I disagree with the idea that a hero has to be better than we are for us to support them. That's really the whole idea of the anti - hero. For instance Alucard from Hellsing, Guts from Berserk and Zaraki Kenpachi from Bleach (to a lesser extant).

I mean, look at Guts. What exactly about him looks trustworthy? He's like 6 foot 8, hugely muscled, scarred and has a missing eye and arm. But you still root for him, despite everything he does.

It's certainly true though that many anime shows portray people as very beautiful, though there are plenty which are a little more realistic. The issue of girls' proportion is a stereotype of anime, though it's been earned in many cases.

I honestly could not watch xxxHolic thanks to the art style. Everyone would have been around 10 feet tall in relation to how skinny they were and it was driving me crazy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's one of CLAMP's trademarks, right?

Madhouse can do no wrong, on the other hand.

[Amiya-Chan]

hmm... i have realize the skinny factor but even though they look awesome and it fit the anime as well... it's really all about the type of anime it is like eden of the east the art work was a little more realistic than others so is valkyria chronicles and elfen lied o.o;;

but in all things the anime drawing will never be all realistic let's face it... it will suck if it was