I honestly never bought that theory much. Hey I could be wrong I am no expert.

I just feel like if that were true, why is it that pretty much all classical to nearly modern Asian art.... everyone looks freakin' super Asian in it? So, I guess leaving this at just the Japanese scope [although it applies to many other areas of Asian art] Japanese people through pretty much all of history saw themselves look as well.... they actually look, but bam suddenly they see themselves looking totally differently despite not looking any different? Suddenly Japanese people see themselves as white with rarely Japanese colored hair or eyes? [I get there is some of that being a cartoon but it is hardly even close!]

I think the thing is, if you look at many anime characters: yes, most seem to look white and not Japanese. Does that mean though that they don't have SOME Japanese features? Actually in many characters they still do have some subtle Japanese features, even very white ones that I think many people in the west don't immediately notice. However, they are very subtle and not significant enough to ever justify this theory in any way.

I guess I would put it this way, most anime characters seem to be white with light Japanese features, not Japanese with closer to white features, and that is not enough at all to justify this idea.

I just can't see how this adds up if you look at all of even recent [ancient to early to mid 1900s] Japanese art. Even if you want to say that it is a difference between manga art styles I guess "higher classical art" [however you want to word it not to imply that manga drawings are a lesser art I just can't think of a better way of putting it] then even early manga Japanese people look like.... Japanese people. I am sure you can find exceptions, but they tend to be exceptions and not the norm.

Not to mention, if it is the case that cultures see cartoons or stickmen in their own ethnicity, why does this seem to generally only be the case with japanese/asian art? I don't look at old cartoons from India or Brazil, or Russian, or whatever and see "white american (or whatever)" or most other places. They just look generally like what you would expect of that country. If this were actually true, why does it seem to be generally focused on Japan [or you could argue this one genre of art in Japan(anime/manga)] in this way? Why do most people only see it specifically with this particular one? This theory just holds no water. Sure if you get SUPER simplistic art styles they will start to look generic enough [but how often is anime/manga very simplistic?] Heck most japanese animes/mangas are almost detailed enough to be on par with more "classical artwork" if not exceed it in detail yet they still somehow often just look white with incredibly light asian features.

Don't get me wrong.... I love anime and I think Japan is pretty rad in some ways. But, feel like this whole theory is so littered with holes that it is only there as some awkward and weird defense of Japanese culture along the ways of the left trying to feel that if Japanese people draw them not looking very asian that it is somehow some denying of asian people or whatever.

Hey I could be wrong, but it just seems completely like nonsense.