A popular ongoing online discussion poses an important question regarding the inspiration behind anime characters: Are anime Caucasian or Japanese? Recent debates regarding the basis of the anime characters has led to many heated arguments and altered renderings to prove which the characters look more like.
Anime and manga fans have taken to the Internet to prove -- or disprove -- how these iconic Japanese characters are based off Caucasian features. A popular example generated by fans is Sakura, a female character from Naruto. Fans create a sketch of what the character "should" look like based on photos of Japanese celebrities and contrast them with what she actually looks like in the comics, which is believed to be based off of Caucasian features. Despite the riled up tension between sides, it's debatable whether one can claim certain features as belonging to a certain ethnicity. Kotaku quotes a forum user for his/her spectacular answer, which sadly, may not dissolve the heated arguments: "They're anime people."
Not on front page