I’d like to add that there are Black people of non-African decent in Asia. We exist. So the whole “I won’t draw Black people in anime because it’s set in ~Asia~” is absolutely bullshit (besides the fact that those of African decent also live there). The so called “negrito” ethnic group is comprised of many different cultures throughout south and southeast Asia and are considered Black (they have dark skin and coiled ‘Afro-texture’ hair) Additionally, the Moluccan and Papuan people of southeast Indonesia are Black.
Also regarding hair, naturally curly hair absolutely is a thing in e/s/se Asia. Our hair runs the gamut from loose wavy curls to tight, kinky coiled hair.
Blonde or red hair and blue eyes are also possible in Maluku and Papua, due to genetic quirk that has nothing to do with having white heritage.
On to types of curly hair Asian people can have:
[A picture of Sandra Oh with a long, curly shag haircut, wearing a pink blouse against a white backdrop] Sandra Oh is a great example of an east Asia person with curly hair. She has wavy/curly hair.
[A picture of Aarti Sequeria, an Indian woman with medium skin tone, shoulder length medium curls, wearing a green blouse against a colorful background]
Curly hair is also common in south Asia. This is Aarti Sequeria, an Indian person with tighter curls.
Then we get to the tightest curls.
[Three pictures of young people from Maluku or Papua Indonesia. The first shows two boys in blue shirts with dark skin and curly hair. The boy on the left has loose, dark curls and the boy on the right has dark red-blonde tightly coiled curls. The second picture shows a child with very dark skin with red undertones. They have tightly curled dark red-orange hair. The last one shows a boy with dark brown skin, dark ash blonde hair, and dark grey eyes. He is not wearing a shirt. End description]
These are all people from Maluku and Papua in southeast Indonesia. This is their natural hair color and texture. Also note how warm their skin tone is. As a note, the reason these are all pictures of children is that more often than not, those with blonde hair as children will have their hair darken as they get older. Additionally, note how the roots are much darker than the ends. This is because most of the blonde hair comes from sun bleaching rather than it coming out of the scalp blonde.
My family is from Maluku and I have cousins with the same bright red hair, and both of their parents have dark brown/black hair. I also have family who have blue eyes, but both of their parents have brown eyes. So while it’s very, very uncommon, it is possible for an Asian person to be blonde. However, unless you are depicting someone from these areas, the blue eyes/blonde hair is still very much a don’t do this, especially if you are a white artist.
There are so many ways to look Asian. So many hair textures, so many skin colors. Asia is a lot more diverse than the west depicts it to be.
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