MovieChat Forums > Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) Discussion > Why Chun-Li is white ??!!!

Why Chun-Li is white ??!!!

posted 15 years ago by yaoimage
129 replies | jump to latest

Why has to make Chun-Li white ? She suppose to be authentic bad-ass chinese character ! making her as a white character is like making all shao-lin monk white, stupid idea !!

[–] blackheart981 15 years ago

The real reason, I dunno. What I can perceive is that they half-whiten her character for western audiences. Also, its because they casted Kristen Kreuk, who from time to time, get comments that she looks part Asian. But please people, no more because she doesn't look Asian in the games. I've played Capcom vs Snk 2, SF III, IV, and saw the Ties that bind movie recently, and I can truly say she looks Asian 100%.

[–] inflames-5 15 years ago

She looks and is part asian...

[–] msjuicyse01 15 years ago

Kristin doesn't look even part asian though she is...I was actually surprised she was when I decided to look her up after watching eurotrip. In the movie the chun li character as a kid goes from a slighty tan very asian looking little girl with black eyes to well kristin's characrer as an adult more white/fair skinned with more white/eurasian looks and green eyes..... it's just weird like whaaaattt.

What's more dangerous than sincere ignorance?

[–] ats02171 14 years ago

you serous Kristen is half asian. If you can't see that your blind. Also not all chinese are tan, some are white as snow.

[–] TyLee896 12 years ago

"Kristin doesn't look even part asian." Yes she does, look at her eyes man.

[–] jawo14 14 years ago

Kristin Kreuk is half chinese. That is probably why they made Chun-Li half white in the movie.

[–] azn103100 15 years ago

because hollywood is racist and hates asians. look at Dragonball, 21, Karate Kid, Kill Bill, Bulletproof Monk, Speed Racer, Avatar Last Airbender, Last Samurai, Tokyo Drift, etc. they can't stand having a full asian as a hero. so they always cast them as villains, sidekicks, nerds, background characters, people who don't speak english, etc. and if a character is SUPPOSED to be asian, like chun-li, they find some way to make them white or part white. it's really stupid.

[–] dnaplayboy 15 years ago

I'm glad black people don't have that problem

[–] Livio_De_Pupe 15 years ago

Kristen kreuk IS part asian, and in fact that part is of chinese ancestry... And it is revealed in the film that her mother is a westerner. So it is ok for her to look "not-so-asian".

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0471036/bio

[–] blackheart981 15 years ago

That is not the point. People are complaining that her character is pure chinese in the games in contrast to the character in the film. Hollywood is Hollywood and it will forever stay that way.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] wireless-junk 15 years ago

“OMG yaoimage! You can't just ask people why they're white!” - Sure, I agree.
But you can ask why Hollywood can’t be original. You can ask why Hollywood must choose to go with a “WHITE GUY” as the main Character. Most importantly you could also recognize that this movie was made in America where people from all parts of the world come and live together… So you should ask – “Why should only one part of America share the image of the hero on the big screen?” Well, two parts if you include Black Folks.

Yaoimage is not asking why a person is white. He is complaining about the ethnocentricity that thrives within Hollywood (though they may not be intentionally racist). To change the original Character from a Famous story to suit the needs of a few is simply ethnocentric and therefore racist.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Aimbotv3 14 years ago

Ha, total Mean Girls reference

[–] beobnoxious 15 years ago

Do they even say in the game what chun li is completly she is from china but if you look at a picture even with segas 16 mb game you can clearly see she doesnt look like pure chineese http://www.estarland.com/images/products/12/25012/43194.jpg

REalOad~ Its NOX Real Talk.

[–] Razor187 15 years ago

Get your f_ucking eyes checked klannyboy, that's a Chinese woman.

I'm going to shove coal so far up your stocking you'll be coughing up diamonds!

[–] beobnoxious 15 years ago

U fail turd
REalOad~ Its NOX Real Talk.

[–] WilliamABW 14 years ago

Her? In that picture, she looks completely white.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] blackheart981 13 years ago

Look if we were to make Captain America Asian would that happen? How's about Wolverine black? Its just that Asians tend to always get the shaft when it comes to leads unless if its Jackie Chan doing comedic stunts. But like someone said, this movie bombed so lets just move on.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] StoneGriffin 15 years ago

I'm glad black people don't have that problem

It took a while, but I think only in the 1960s did Black characters become 'hip'. Now African American actors are being cast in roles that were originally white (I Am Legend) or redoing white characters completely as black characters (The Honeymooners). But I think Hollywood has gone completely the other way as far as black characters. Times right now are great for black actors/actresses. African Americans dominate television, nearly all commercials, and most of the movies. Far in excess of their percentage of the population (which is 12.8%).

P.S. I find it funny that people express shock that blacks are only 12.8% of the population and they 'demand' that I am wrong. (I got this number within the last several years when Newsweek magazine had a cover story as to the time when Hispanics SURPRASSED blacks as the largest racial minority in the U.S. at 13% nationwide). So their complete dominance of the entertainment, music and sports fields makes everyone think that there are more of them than they are. A tribute to their talent, now if only Hollywood weren't still as racist towards Asian characters, Indian characters, or heck, even Latino characters....

Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

[–] dnaplayboy 15 years ago

I was being ironic and I don't agree that black people "dominate" television. There are 2 types of shows/movies with black people in them: 1) black shows with a mainly black cast geared towards a black audience and 2) white shows with sprinkles of black people here and there. Besides will smith and denzel washington there aren't any main black characters in non black movies (I choose to ignore the few exceptions so don't list them plz). I don't blame the entertainment business I blame black people for thinking they can only act in stupid black comedies and for not writing any scripts with a diverse cast and a good story.

[–] StoneGriffin 15 years ago

Actually Will Smith and Denzel are A-LISTERS who can pull in both White and Black audiences. Any of the RAPPERS would only bring the black and/or young white hip hop fanbase audience. They are true superstars. Though he's more of a supporting actor, I will see most anything with MORGAN FREEMAN in it.

I may defer to your point on television shows, but you must admit that they are way overrepresented only when compared to the other races Latinos, Asians, East Indians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans are represented FAR BELOW their percentage of the population. Not so with African American Entertainers. Now I'm not arguing talent. Black superstars and lesser stars are represented in the numbers they are because of their talent. That's something to be proud of. But I am convinced that 'white Hollywood' has a quota with black talent and they are actively giving black actors opportunity that they are denying other actors of other racial minorities.

I am not a minority, but I have many MANY actor friends. I have dozens of Black actor friends (Who are working all the time), I have many Asian actor friends (who aren't working at all), I have Samoan, Native American, Latino, and East Indian Actor friends. So I base a lot of my perceptions on who is getting the opportunities (and all the scuttlebutt as to who is working and who is not). Frankly I'm shocked at how some casting directors think. They have a more limited world view than most of the people on the street. Be thankful you're not a minority actor (other than black). You'll be put in the most stereotyped backgrounds, or worst, ignore completely.

BTW: thanks for the thoughtful response. I was beginning to think that there were no thoughtful debates or discussions on IMDB. :) Even if we don't agree on everything, it was nice to read your thoughts. :)

Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

[–] cpfh 14 years ago

I'm glad black people don't have that problem

Not for lack of effort. Look up 'blackface'. The large representation of black people in media did not happen overnight.

[–] kinetik2005 14 years ago

Yes they do. Check out most of Channing Tatum's movies.

[–] MasterRyu 15 years ago

This is a pathetic thread. Chun-Li has never looked truly 100% Asian in the games. Not SF2, not Alpha, not 3rd Strike, not CVS2, not SVC2, not Capcom Fighting Evolution, and definitely not SFIV. You can clearly see that she's mixed blood. Really if you wanna blame anybody, blame the Japanese for drawing anime characters to look like Westerners. Almost all anime characters (especially the ones that are supposed to be Asian) look part white. It's disgusting. If they were proud, they would've drawn them to look uh..more Asian. But I digress.

Kristin is Asian (half yes), and she clearly looks Asian. When I first saw Smallville, I was like ..."hmm cool they casted an Asian girl to play Lana". I thought the Lang lastname was appropriate cuz it sounds Asian and fits her Asian look. But I didgress again.

This is America, a land that is predominantly white. If they wanna promote white actors I don't have a problem with that. Whites are more marketable than Asians. I can flip the coin too. In Japan, most of the movie leads go to Japanese; in Hong Kong, most of the movie leads go to Chinese; in South Korea, most of the movie leads go to Koreans.

In the Korean Street Fighter 2 tv show, they casted Asian actors (mostly Korean) to play Zangief, Bison, Balrog, Vega, Dhalsim (a non-Indian Asian played him), and Guile. What gives?

In the Hong Kong action flick Future Cops that was based on Street Fighter 2, they had a Chinese Ryu, a Chinese Ken, a Chinese Guile, a Chinese Bison, a Chinese Blanka...get my drift?

See I don't have a problem with all these casting choices to promote the domestic actors. Koreans can promote Koreans, China can promote Chinese, Japan can promote Japanese, and the U.S. can damn as well promote Caucasians.

/thread.

[–] classOFfitness 15 years ago

wow. thats a mouth full.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] MasterRyu 15 years ago

"Still defending this piece of s hit movie? How pathetic are you? "

I'm not even defending the movie. I see it for what it is. The pacing sucks, a lot of the acting sucks, and some of the fight clips were downright embarrassing. But I do like the casting Chun-Li, Bison, Chun-Li fight scenes (except for the WWK and kikoken), and the storyline is pretty true to the source material.

What I am defending is Hollywood's right to cast whoever they want for their films. People are preaching racism, yet turn a blind eye to the same practice implemented in other countries. Now that's pathetic!

[–] DamianGein 15 years ago

Exactly.

You, will never realize, what darkness lies inside, inside my own mind...

[–] indigentsoul 15 years ago

good point man, and I'm glad that someone pointed out this tendency of anime artists to draw white looking characters. In a sense, there's nothing wrong with that, and it can even be justifiable. Like you said, white sells, and Japan has been so permeated by American culture that it would be natural for them to share the same values of beauty as Americans do.

[–] BigMacWitbacon 15 years ago

do not use the same type of racial identifiers that white people in America use for them.

Memo to self- next time i see a black cartoon character that does not have big lips they are not black or a Asian cartoon character that does not have slanted eyes, yellow skin or buck tooth teeth they are not Asian or a Hispanic cartoon character that does not have brown skin and does not speak English poorly they are not Hispanic.
Another memo to self- anime characters with pink, purple and green hair must be white since those type of hair colors are common to white people. Also just look at their HUGE round eyes whose colors vary from brown,black, blue and green to purple, pink yellow and red... memo to self this feature is also very white.

I best to not see hair-loopies.

[–] Jane_Doe01 12 years ago

Memo to BigMacWitbacon: Shut the fu**ing fu** up. That's one of the most obnoxious posts I've ever read in my life. Another memo: You're not witty or clever.

[–] remys_shack 15 years ago

ok you guys are extremely nerdy.
I believe one of the first games street fighter came out in was Super NES or Famicom. With those systems you cant tell race guys, just different colors. New games she looks kinda Asian, tv shows she looks kinda Asian- as does Ryu.

Anyway i don't doubt Hollywood is racist, but we should be use to it. Hollywood is racist but so are the audience. The audience doesn't want to see Asians in films. This movie was a blockbuster disaster.
Bruce Lee was most likely killed because he was Asian, and so was his son.
The worlds racist, get use to it.

[–] turok670 15 years ago

Wow, you're a paranoid, delusional idiot.

I usually don't use words like that in a first response to a post but everything you said in your post is either, untrue, has no basis other than your paranoid delusions, or is just completely ridiculous.

Your points actually contradict each other:
"The audience doesn't want to see Asians in films. This movie was a blockbuster disaster." so you're saying they don't want to see Asian leads (which this movie didn't have, even though she is Asian) and yet the movie still bombed. You should be glad they didn't cast a full Asian lead, because there is a chance it would have bombed harder, and the next time a role comes up in that studio that could go to an Asian actor they would pass because "We cast an Asian lead in that one movie and it tanked", see what I'm saying?

Morons like yourself misuse the word "racist" is it racist that I generally find Middle Eastern women more attractive than Mexican women? No, it's just a matter of preference, and usually people prefer their own race in a movie. The person you responded to is correct in talking about films and tv shows around the world. Do you consider Koreans racist for having mostly Koreans in their movies and TV shows?

NO, I didn't think so...

[–] remys_shack 15 years ago

ok maybe you're right. In Korea the shows should be mostly Korean, then in America the shows cast should be only "American looking" actors.
All I tried to state is that in Hollywood there aren't Asian Blockbusters. Please tell me one that is a full on Asian movie other than Crouching Tiger in the last 5 years.
Quite Frankly I dont care if racism or "preference" exists.

In your opinion it wouldn't make me a racist if i "prefer" to have only my race exist .(that's me trying not say something like) "I prefer if genocide happens and my race is the victor"

Lastly you're one of those guys that goes around using vulgar attack words, it's quite unnecessary.

[–] turok670 15 years ago

Existing and being in a movie are completely different things.
There aren't Asian blockbusters because people don't want to see it, it's a supply and demand thing. There really isn't the demand (other than Jackie Chan and Jett Lee films) so that's why studios don't produce them. It's not racism, it's business.

Also, wtf are you talking about? So you are saying I am racist because I think a certain type of woman is more attractive than another? Preference isn't racism, for the love of Pete! Existing and being in a movie are like completely irrelevant to each other. Why take everything to such an extreme? Like Hollywood killing Bruce Lee and his son? Are you serious? those guys were stars and made a lot of money for the studios why would they want to kill them (other than your paranoid delusions)?

I usually don't call people names, I'm usually not one of those type of people (pretty sure I said that in my OP) but everything I said is ringing true. You truly are delusional, and you are only person I see here that could be short sided or even racist.

[–] TwistedFreq 15 years ago

all crap aside.... chung li is supposed to be CHINESE. 1/4 or even 1/2 is not enough for this character.. this girl was pretty much an american.

this writing sucked and i lost a little respect for micheal clark duncan for making this crappy film. the end did seem a little interesting... a competition with more favorable characters like ryu. less story ...more fighting please

[–] wireless-junk 15 years ago

To change the original Character from a Famous story to suit the needs of a few is simply ethnocentric and therefore racist.

This movie was made in America where people from all parts of the world come and live together. Why should only one part of America share the image of the hero on the big screen?” Well, two parts if you include Black Folks.

[–] blackheart981 15 years ago

Don't forget that Future cops was not an official flick. It was more of an parody. Why do you think they re-named every character. It didn't even try to follow the SF storyline, it was just a movie with guys dressed like SF. TLOCL is an official SF flick and they teed almost everyone off. Had this not been an official flick, of course no one would had complained. Look at the parody, Sf: The later years, the chick who played Chun-li ain't Asian at all. But its not the real deal so we aren't going to care.

and I still don't think Chun-Li looks mixed. Capcom drew her pretty well as an Asian person. But knowing you, you are still going to digress. And don't go by SNK's drawing of her please. Look at how they drew Yun, he looks like a white guy playing a yellowface back in the 50's. UGH!

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Razor187 15 years ago

Kreuk does not f_ucking look Asian. If she did, would she have ever been casted for Snow White or Lana? Oh and Lang is a white surname dumbass (ever heard of k.d. or Stephen Lang?).

I'm going to shove coal so far up your stocking you'll be coughing up diamonds!

[–] DrLibertyBelle 14 years ago

Very good reply (well except for that anime drawing part...they all look hot or cool as hell so who cares)! Your points about the films from Asia should squash this thread entirely. Well said.

And for those of you who don't think Kreuk looks part Asian... that is your problem, anyone with a good eye can. You are probably some of the same people who cannot tell a Chinese face from a Japanese one.

[–] Razor187 14 years ago

Then it looks like the whole f_ucking film industry has this problem, since she's spent her whole damn career playing white girls.

And so Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I REFUSE your pardon!

[–] BrainGremlin 15 years ago

*sighs at azn103100*

Or it's because Hollywood isn't Asian. A possibility too, you know.

Never rub another man's rhubarb.~The Joker, '89

[–] Mickeyleon123 15 years ago

I feel for you bro, black people had to wait a long time before we were accepted as lead roles, but Hollywood racism is still there for us too. You still hardly see a black guy kiss a leading white female in a movie. Denzel Washington is one of the best actors ever, yet he won an oscar for playing a bent cop. Will Smith is probably the most universally accepted leading black actor, yet his kissing scene was cut from Hancock with Charlene Theron. It was a crucial scene too as it tied in to the movie. They totally changed the film Along Came a Spider with Morgan Freeman. The black character has a relationship with the white lead in the book which was crucial to the plot, didn't exist in the movie.

Anyway in time things change and maybe Asian actors will get more leading roles in films too.

Change is slow in Hollywood though.

[–] DrLibertyBelle 14 years ago

Did you know that Denzel Washington refused to kiss Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief? Not saying racism does not exist in Hollywood, however it is from both sides sometimes, and also keep in mind that 18% of the population here is Black...so in a sense, Black people are represented proportionately in Hollywood. Don't get me wrong though, I love to see a minority of any type just play a character in films, one that has nothing to do with what/ who they are as a minority, and wish we saw that more.

[–] beobnoxious 15 years ago

First off the japaneese rarley make Asian character pokemon you gi oh sailor moon etc many anime characters are not Asian Dragon ball z for instance would not be Asian because Goku is an alien. Of the Asians made more Asians characters they would be better represented most of there characters ten to be white with Japanese names i notice the evil characters are usually the Asian ones in anime, maybe because its difficult to draw an Asian with the squinty eyes and they not look evil the anime style has the big doll eyes and anglo saxon features i think you should make an all Asian anime and see how it turns out

REalOad~ Its NOX Real Talk.

[–] Razor187 15 years ago

Those characters ARE Asian you f_ucking moron, the dub just changes the names. Adn Goku is an alien AND Asian, just like how Superman is both an alien and white.

I'm going to shove coal so far up your stocking you'll be coughing up diamonds!

[–] beobnoxious 15 years ago

What about naruto are there Asians with blond hair and blue eyes your honestly i think there funny looking people and hard to draw true Asians with squinty eyes homer simpson is closer to white then Goku is to asian anime characters rarely resemble Asians there small scrawny people in anime there always huge with white features. yao ming is an exeption he was made in a Chinese lab stop your whining baby if you want to see asians sing and dance on the big screen make your own damn movie stop wasting my time why i feel your inferior and my intellect is wasted on you.
REalOad~ Its NOX Real Talk.

[–] Razor187 15 years ago

Intellect? That's a joke. You have ZERO intellect you racist, farm animal-f_ucking hick. Yes Naruto is Asian. Look at what his goddamn name is. Sorry that anime artists don't draw their characters like the racist caricatures you're used to. They're their people, of course they're not going to draw them racistly. Same reason why on The Boondocks the characters don't look like they walked out of a minstrel show.

I'm going to shove coal so far up your stocking you'll be coughing up diamonds!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Milksteak_and_Jellybeans 15 years ago

Maybe they'll produce my film: The Last n!kka on Earth starring Tom Hanks. How bout that?" -Paul Mooney.

[–] camel-wides 15 years ago

i'm sorry, but harold was the hero in harold and kumar go to white castle.
he was asian, and kumar was so definitely the sidekick...
or it would have been kumar and harold go to white castle.

[–] Gipshaw 14 years ago

In Avatar, Zuko was just as much of a main character as Aang, and they both seem pretty Asian to me.

[–] Belforhir 9 years ago

because hollywood is racist and hates asians

Then why would they cast someone half asian? Also explain Jet Li and Jackie Chan...
Or John Woo's Directing career...

Oh you can't? well shut yer RACIST trap then and quit blaming people for being (part) white...

[–] Thenewnexus 9 years ago

I think the reason people were mad with this casting is that they don't think Kristen looks Asian,She was able to play Snow White and Lana Lang without anybody complaining about her looking Asian

I'm gonna show you something beautiful everyone screaming for mercy

[–] shamrock72 15 years ago

Casting is perceptive

I want my movie to do to well
I have a Chinese character;

Who is on a popular TV program ? Smallville ?
Everyone who watches Smallville will come and see her in the movie ?
She will appeal to the teen audience that goes to the cinema ?

The Casting directors figures they did well, to have her sign on.

visit http://www.search.co.tt

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] spqa2004 15 years ago

She is half White and half Asian. Her father was Danish and her mother was Chinese.

[–] johnny718bravo 15 years ago

I swear, the director, writers and ultimately the studio (who released this crap) gave us real Street Fighter fans the middle finger. Chun Li and Bison looked NOTHING like their video game counterparts.

FAIL.

__________
"If you stop going to bad movies, they'll stop making bad movies." - Jay Sherman, The Critic

[–] o_th_fret_o 15 years ago

To be honest chun li would never look like in the video games, I mean have you seen her body proportions? her thighs are bigger than her body. Bison can be done, but to find a woman who is that buff and still looks like a woman is hard.

[–] o_th_fret_o 15 years ago

She's half chinese but I see what you mean she doesn't look very oriental. Whoever played her in the 94 movie was better imo.

[–] Jonx88 15 years ago

it doesn't matter that she's white or asian or mix.....she's HOT!
the movie sucked...we all knew it was gonna suck when we saw the director...it's amazing to me that hollywood manages to butcher stories the way they do...Dragonball looks awful...Don't even get me started on 'I Am Legend'...and wtf happen to Ryu, Ken, maybe even a lil Guile (oh man did I love sonic boom) ahhhh fer shame fer shame why fellow movie fans do we argue over these minute details instead of banding together and lynching the people who turn our beloved childhood dreams into reruns of the same *beep* movie?

-only what can happen does happen-
-Dr. Manhattan-

[–] edddddddddddd 15 years ago

I feel she interpreted the poorly written script's intended character decently. She just needs to do leg extensions.

[–] divefanatic 15 years ago

Agree - Kristin is HOT and I'd rather see her in the movie than any other chinese or mixed actress (wouldn't have been ok with a white person playing chun-li though).

[–] SSPrincessRyoko 15 years ago

Actually, Kirsten is half chinese but I see your point. Why on earth would you cast her when there were other perfectly good oriental actresses (who are vastly superior to her in the looks, acting, and martial arts departments) that they could've cast? The movie was destined to tank. With the low budget and lack of marketing they couldn't expect ANYone but the SF fans to care about this movie and go see it, so why not cast a relatively unknown girl who would've done a better job?

And I'm tired of the "well anime characters look white anyway" comments. So, what, you expect the artists to draw all their characters with black hair and the stereotypical "asian eyes"? Do you know how many asians dye their hair different colors, get the double eye-lid surgery, and have wider ranges of eye shapes other than the typical slits that American cartoons give them? Get real. If those artists didn't give their characters wacky eye/hair colors and just stuck to the general "asian features" the characters would be just as dull as American cartoon characters. Hell, even some western artists have started taking liberties with things like eye colors and hair so their characters look more interesting. But does that make their characters any less white? Or black? Or Asian? Even if the artists specifically states what the character's race is?

*so I'm just going to keep my expectations low and hopefully this movie won't totally blow*

[–] faun_of_steel 15 years ago

I know what you mean. I read something about this (assuming that anime/manga characters are made to look white, and the idea that Japanese people wants to be white/American/or something), more like a rant about this. The author made the point that if you see a simple smiley face, and you assigned race/gender to it, it's a white male. If it was female, it would have one or more of: a bow, eyelashes, lips. And yeah, if it were Asian, then it would have slant/"almond-shaped" eyes. But that's because, to us, white (and especially) male is the standard. To a Japanese artist, likely a Japanese person is the standard. I've often seen in anime that a Chinese character, on the other hand, is given small slanted eyes, and sometimes white Americans/Europeans are given more square/harder jawlines. White people, on the other hand, exaggerate differences as well by giving Asian characters smaller/more slanted eyes than is even typical. I don't think most people realize how much range there is anyway... Not all east Asian people have jet black, straight hair either.
Female anime characters usually have inhumanly large eyes anyway. No one has that.

Fish are friends, not food!

[–] ats02171 14 years ago

I have to agree with you. When i watch anime the white characters tend to have lager noses. and the black characters which are few have very light lips for some reason and huge mouths. black folk have big lips but blood the last vampire would make you think that our lips are crazy big. For some reasons Chinese or Vietnamese people have slanted eyes.