Mar
26

Why are anime eyes so big?

Offbeat By Shay

So why do anime characters often have such large eyes or corneas? They wear contacts.

At least that’s what a Thai Acuvue contact lenses advertisement suggests.

It’s a cute and pretty fun ad campaign. Throw out all your Tezuka, ‘shows emotion’, and other reasons because it’s in the contacts baby. But then why must some characters wear glasses? A fashion accessory? I kid.

Acuvue Define: Boy
Acuvue Define: Girl

via Ads of the World

28 Responses to “Why are anime eyes so big?”

  1. By Apple on March 29, 2008 at 2:43 am

    Awwww…so kawaii~~
    I like the answer “They wear contacts”…haha

  2. By modemlooper on March 30, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    LOL they should make real anime contacts

  3. By Sillysweetie on April 1, 2008 at 9:04 am

    Hahahahaha so true they wear contacts!! It’s sad those contacts don’t fit my eyes :P

  4. By Shay on April 1, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    Yeah, last time I checked, Acuvue contacts dont look that cool :P I don’t think they’d fit me either ^^

  5. By Bapes on April 4, 2008 at 11:15 pm

    LOL! I have always wondered about that. There eyes always look so huge. I guess I know why now. LOL!

  6. By Nicole on April 13, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    LOLOL oh cool i want one , so i can scare a friend or two

  7. By Mishy on April 13, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    LOLOLOL.
    @nicole: i wouldn’t want one, i’d want two xD

    i want’em to stare at people
    yesthatsoundsfreaky.
    XD

  8. By art student on June 24, 2008 at 9:53 pm

    well when you look at the rest if the face its rather simple so 90% of a charector’s expression is through his or her eyes

  9. By Name on November 25, 2008 at 7:04 am

    i think its cute

  10. By yon on February 4, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    they do make anime contact

  11. By yon on February 4, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    they do make anime contacts

  12. By Emily on March 6, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/08/11/anime_eyes/print.html

  13. By Dylan on March 31, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    wow….that’s sooooo weird!
    All anime people look better with contacts then….wow

  14. By How to Make Big Anime Eyes | My Disguises - We Love Costumes on April 23, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    [...] Have you ever wondered why Anime characters have such big eyes? According to SparkPlugged, it’s because they wear contact lenses. LOL, [...]

  15. By Smo on September 30, 2009 at 9:59 pm

    The large eyes are representative of western Caucasian people. Far eastern peoples eyes are usually smaller, and just the same as when, for example some bigoted person from the US says: “omg… look at those tiny slit eyes!”, they are also thinking: “omfg, how the hell do these people fit their eyes into their heads!!?!?” – its a facination.

  16. By UpBear on October 27, 2009 at 5:07 am

    @Smo: Not sure if you were kidding there, but that is not actually true. The Japanese manga art style was heavily influenced by Disney. Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and many other characters from Disney have quite large eyes in proportion to their face. Well this eventually became more and more exaggerated to become what it is today.

  17. By Crystal on October 27, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    Where to buy anime contacts? I want one!

  18. By bananan on November 7, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  19. By Yuuki Chan on November 29, 2009 at 11:39 am

    Yes they are huge because Japanese people think it is very cute! I love how they make eyes! No those are not contacts, they are their real eyes. It makes them cute and makes them want to hug them. Don’t embarass anime!!!! ANIME IS AWESOME!!! ;)

  20. By heyheyhey on December 22, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    @modem something or other, they do make them. IDIOT

  21. By kleigh on March 29, 2010 at 8:34 pm

    they do make real anime contact lenses. somethin japan has come out with

  22. By Shane on May 30, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    Not all Asians have slitty eyes Smo. Don’t be so ignorant and naive.

    I’ve seen full blood Asians have large eyes. Large eyes is not just a Caucasian feature, it’s found in Africans, Asians and some other races. I’ve met a lot of Asians, and almost none of them had narrow eyes except for like 0.1% of the ones I met.

    Their eye size depends on what region of Asia they come from. Some Asians, depending on their region can have differing characteristics like yellow skin, pale pinkish skin, even brown skin.

  23. By Blappy on May 30, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    @ Smo,

    No race has eyes that huge. It’s just an anime style. Large eyes in anime portray innocence. The large eyes is based off of children, who are innocent, and have larger eyes in proportion to their face, opposed to adults.

    People who market toys, cartoons, or anything know that big eyes and small mouths and noses appeal to audiences. Because those features are reminiscent of infants, and people are likely to buy cute things. That’s why people buy teddy bears, and it’s a proven marketing technique for a while. This has been going on long before anime ever came about.

    I wouldn’t expect a grade-schooler to know anything about advanced marketing though. Go back to your Kids Bop and eat ramen while pretending to be Naruto.

  24. By Mysti on June 1, 2010 at 9:10 am

    It is indeed to show emotion, anime characters expressions focus more on the eyes where western characters expressions focus more on other features.
    It makes the details of the eyes much easier to draw and see, western characters usually have black dots becuase it’s hard to draw detail at such a small scale.

    BTW The cornea is the clear lens on the eyes, and does not effect how the eyes look, the word your looking for is probebly iris or pupil.

  25. By KH4ever on June 3, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    did u knw they actually make large contacts you can buy them online!!!
    i would totally buy them if i wasnt broke XD
    well chea i agree with Mysti teehee
    they jux show more emotion and give them a non real look that appeals to the person watching it

  26. By coss on June 14, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    those mangakas had lost their minds, are totaly crazy.

  27. By liam on August 4, 2010 at 11:08 am

    hahahahaha… human’s eyes are small compared to anime.

  28. By Shyrka on August 19, 2010 at 3:35 am

    LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
    Lelouch looks funny without these contacts XD
    I want these contacts!!!!

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