Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (**PLEASE read first post!!**)

[Mafty Allegro]

For about half of the year, I have worked on a feature concerning the number of occurrences in anime where dark-skinned characters have been shot (or in some instances, stabbed) through the head. While Japanese animation has been no stranger to death or exotic ways of killing off characters, these characters have died almost exclusively in the same distinctive manner.

At seven parts, "Blacks and Head Shots in Anime" is a lengthy piece, but I'll summarize it here. Examples of the above could be found in such series as Blassreiter, Blood+, and 3-D Magical Play, and while some of the cases may possessed a few common traits, such as the characters being villains and a few reminiscent of historical stereotypes (i.e. characters turning into monsters, and/or possessing stereotypical features), none of these seemed to be particularly correlated to how the characters died (besides story conventions, whether in relation to a theme or because "the villain dies at the end"). As a whole, in spite of some the traits' historic connections, there does not seem to be an apparent one towards why dark-skinned characters are shown being shot in the head so often. From examples in history and various observations of Japanese culture, one hypothesis I have is that this may be a byproduct of imported media, where in a homogeneous country with a low exposure to dark-skinned people, their view of them is formed basically from what they obtain from beyond their borders. A film? A news item? An incident in Japan? There is no concrete evidence to lend a hand, but it is something worth considering.

To that end, I have been very curious to hear what the thoughts of the anime community are concerning this pattern, and as such, I am posting about it at two very different forums: here and at ANN's. How do you feel about it? Does this have any affect on how you watch anime or view the genre as a whole? What do you believe it says about the Japanese perception of dark-skinned people, if anything? Also, what do you believe may be the origin of this may be?

These are only just a few questions to keep in mind. Don't be afraid to state your opinion about the topic. Whether you feel strongly, don't, or are on the fence, just say so and why (and while the above poll is anonymous, feel free to state your choice, if you would like). As a word of caution, given that this topic involves the matter of race, please be respectful and try to avoid getting caught in flame wars or off-topic, whether here or across the bow against those at ANN's forum.


(Note: Apologies for using "black" so broadly in the title, when it is more accurate to use the term "dark-skinned", since not every character can be categorized as such. I'm using the feature's title for the title of the forum topics just for continuity's sake (and made a similar note of this at the end of the feature.)

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To kick things off, as you may tell, I do feel strongly about this and it has affected how I watch anime. It's not that I have anything against the genre--or the Japanese, for that matter--but after seeing the same instance replayed with the same type of people so many times, it is hard not look at a dark-skinned character on a show and not think in the back of my mind "I wonder if this character will die the same as they did" (Of course, it depends on what type of show it is. I wouldn't expect it to happen in, say, a children's show or comedy...3-D Magical Play notwithstanding). It is both fascinating and concerning to see a pattern like this and it naturally makes me wonder how Japan perceives dark-skinned people, though I do not believe it is necessarily deliberate or racist (at most, perhaps there is some level of misunderstanding or insensitivity present). As for the inevitable argument that "this doesn't matter because the characters aren't real", that is besides the point. It is still a questionable sight in its frequency that is worth exploring and inquiring over. One that would be great to know of the reason of its existence to.

[bored@lazy]

When you're concentrating on one thing, it's easy to lose sight of others.

[touma]

I don't feel strongly about it and it will not have any effect on me.
This is just something that has never made an impression on me the way that it has with you.
I know that I have seen characters killed by head shots, but I do not remember anything about their race or ethnicity.

[KomoriKiri]

I can't think of a single anime I've ever watched that contained this, so all it really tells me is that you and I have different taste.

Sorry, but you can find spurious correlations in any arbitrarily large set of data.

Wraith
Life is complex -- it's partly real and partly imaginary