It still boggles my mind that after all these years, some people are still so insistent that characters in ATLA and TLOK are not meant to be Asian because….”they don’t look Asian.”
(Yes, I know the Water Tribes are primarily based on Native Americans/Inuits/Polynesians)
Ignoring the fact that this is a cartoon series where child characters are drawn with widely disproportionate facial features to denote their youth, how exactly are Asians supposed to look like?
Asia is vast and is probably the most diverse continent on Earth. Asians have distinct features based on different regions and there is no such thing as a uniform “Asian look.” East Asians can be very pale, Southeast/South Asians can be dark/tanned, Central Asians can have “Western” facial features, and etc.
I’m Korean, and many Koreans have high cheek bones and strong jawlines, which many cite as “European features.” Many of my family members from my mother’s side have naturally round eyes. Even within the small confine of my country, the “average look” differs quite significantly by the region. Now imagine the whole continent.
Some people argue that since this is a fantasy world, that “Asians” don’t exist.
Yes, they would be correct; there is no such race in the Avatar world. But this is clearly an Asian-influenced world…so why wouldn’t the people living in it, who have Asian names, hairstyles, clothing, and customs, be also based on actual Asian people?
The show and its creators are all but shouting that at you; I honestly can’t fathom how people need to be convinced that people living in the Avatar world are intended to be Asian.
Circling back - Many of the main characters are drawn with almost disney-like eyes with unrealistic proportions (Mainly Aang, Katara, Toph, and Ty Lee). Just compare Toph or Katara with their parents and the difference becomes quite clear.
This is just an intentional aesthetic choice for younger characters (Large, round eyes = innocence). Even in anime, which ATLA’s style is based on, actual Japanese characters are drawn in similar way.
Since child characters are drawn in a specific style, we really should be looking at the rest of their respective people rather than just characters themselves. Grown up versions of these characters seen in The Legend of Korra or any of the adult characters are drawn with realistic proportions.
(It’s also worth nothing that many of the characters in ATLA and TLOK were designed/drawn by Korean artists)
It’s my theory that most people who think these characters don’t look Asian are westerners who have not spent much time around Asians and expect stereotypical hollywood caricatures.
Inb4 “AaNg Is WhItE” or “FiRe NaTiOn iS eUrOpE”
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